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Book .Iqal 



VOYAGES 



COMPANIONS OF COLUMBUS. 



1> MISTED BY JULES DIDOT, SENIOR, 

Illl. T)U PONT DE LODI, (i° 6. 



VOYAGES 



OF THE 



COMPANIONS OF COLUMBUS. 

WASHINGTON IRVING. 



IN ONE VOLUME, 

WITH A MAP. 






PARIS. 



PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. GALIGNANI, 

iT TnE ENGLISH, FRENCH, ITALIAN, GERMAN, AND SPANISH LIBRARY, 
N° l8, RUE VIVIFNNE. 



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« To declare my opinion herein, whatsoever hath heretofore 
been discovered by the famous travayles of Saturnus and Her- 
cules, with such other whom the antiquitie for their heroical acts 
honoured as Gods, seemeth but little and obscure, if it be com- 
pared to the victorious labours of the Spanyards.» 

P. Martyr, decad. III. c. !\. Lok's Translation. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The first discovery of the Western Hemisphere 
has already been related by the Author in his 
History of Columbus. It is proposed by him, in 
the present work, to narrate the enterprises of 
certain of the companions and disciples of the Ad- 
miral, who, enkindled by his zeal, and instructed 
by his example, sallied forth separately in the vast 
region of adventure to which he had led the way. 
Many of them sought merely to skirt the continent 
which he had partially visited; to secure the first- 
fruits of the pearl fisheries of Paria and Cubaga; 
or to explore the coast of Veragua, which he had 
represented as the Aurea Chersonesus of the an- 
cients. Others aspired to accomplish a grand dis- 
covery which he had meditated toward the close of 
his career. In the course of his expeditions along 
the coast of Terra Firma, Columbus had repeat- 
edly received information of the existence of a vast 
sea to the south. He supposed it to be the great 
Indian Ocean, the region of the oriental spice- 
islands, and that it must communicate by a strait 
with the Caribbean sea. His last and most disas- 
trous voyage was made for the express purpose of 
discovering that imaginary strait, and making his 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

-way into this Southern Ocean. The illustrious 
navigator, however, was doomed to die, as it were, 
upon the threshold of his discoveries. It was re- 
served for one of his followers, Vasco Nunez de 
Balboa, to obtain the first view of the promised 
ocean, from the lofty mountains of Darien, some 
years after the eyes of the venerable Admiral had 
been closed in death. The expeditions here nar- 
rated, therefore, may be considered as springing 
immediately out of the voyages of Columbus, and 
fulfilling some of his grand designs. They may 
be compared to the attempts of adventurous 
knights-errant to achieve the enterprise left un- 
finished by some illustrious predecessor. Neither 
is this comparison entirely fanciful : on the con- 
trary, it is a curious fact, well worthy of notice, 
that the spirit of chivalry entered largely into the 
early expeditions of the Spanish discoverers, giving 
them a character wholly distinct from similar en- 
terprises, undertaken by other nations. It will 
not, perhaps, he considered far-sought, if we trace 
the cause of this peculiarity to the domestic history 
of the Spaniards during the middle ages. 

Eight centuries of incessant warfare with the 
Moorish usurpers of the Peninsula, produced a 
deep and lasting effect upon Spanish character and 
manners. The war being ever close at home, 
mingled itself with the domestic habits and con- 
cerns of the Spaniard. He was born a soldier. 
The wild and predatory nature of the war also 
made him a kind of chivalrous marauder. His 



INTRODUCTION. Ml 

horse and weapon were always ready for the field. 
His delight was in roving incursions and extrava- 
gant exploits: and no gain was so glorious in his 
eyes as the cavalgada of spoils and captives driven 
home in triumph from a plundered province. Re- 
ligion, which lias ever held great empire over the 
Spanish mind, lent its aid to sanctify these roving 
and ravaging propensities, and the Castilian cava- 
lier, as he sacked the towns, and laid waste the 
fields of his Moslem neighbour, piously believed 
he was doing God service. 

The conquest of Granada put an end to the 
peninsular wars between christian and infidel : the 
spirit of Spanish chivalry was thus suddenly de- 
prived of its wonted sphere of action ; but it had 
been too long fostered and excited, to be as sud- 
denly- appeased. The youth of the nation, bred 
up to daring adventure and heroic achievement, 
could not brook the tranquil and regular pursuits 
of common life, bnt panted for some new field of 
romantic enterprise. 

It was at this juncture that the grand project of 
Columbus was carried into effect. His treaty with 
the sovereigns was, in a manner, signed with the 
same pen that had subscribed the capitulation of 
the Moorish capital ; and his first expedition may 
almost be said to have departed from beneath the 
walls of Granada. Many of the youthful cavaliers, 
who had fleshed their swords in that memorable 
war, crowded the ships of the discoverers, thinking 
a new career of arms was to be opened to them — 



Mil INTRODUCTION. 

a kind of crusade into splendid and unknown re- 
gions of infidels. The very weapons and armour 
that had been used against the Moors, were drawn 
from the arsenals to equip the heroes of these re- 
moter adventures ; and some of the most noted of 
the early commanders in the New World, will be 
found to have made their first essay in arms, under 
the banner of Ferdinand and Isabella, in their ro- 
mantic campaigns among the mountains of An- 
dalusia. 

To these circumstances may, in a great mea- 
sure, be ascribed that swelling chivalrous spirit 
which will be found continually mingling, or ra- 
ther warring, with the technical habits of the sea- 
man and the sordid schemes of the mercenary 
adventurer, in these early Spanish discoveries. 
Chivalry had left the land and launched upon the 
deep. The Spanish cavalier had embarked in the 
caravel of the discoverer. He carried among the 
trackless wildernesses of the new world the same 
contempt of danger and fortitude under suffering; 
the same restless roaming spirit; the same passion 
for inroad and ravage and vain-glorious exploit ; 
and the same fervent, and often bigoted, zeal for 
the propagation of his faith, that had distinguished 
him during his warfare with the Moors. Instances 
in poinl will be found in the extravagant career of 
the daring Ojeda, particularly in his adventures 
along the coast of Terra Firma and the wild shores 
of Cuba; — in the sad story of the « unfortunate 
Nicuesa," graced as it is with occasional touches 



INTRODUCTION. '* 

of hifthired courtesy S — in the *<>&*** <™ se of 
Z "brave but credulous ok! cavalier, Juan Ponce 
de Leon, who fell upon the Howery coast ol Flo- 
STto bis search after an imaginary fountain of 
o„l, ,-and above all, in the chequered fortune 
of Va sco Nunez de Balboa, whose discovery o 
the Pacific Ocean forms one of.be most beauolul 
and triking incidents in the history of the New 
World, and whose fate might furnish a theme of 
wonderful interest for a poem or a drama 

The extraordinary actions and adventures o 
these men, while they rival the exploits recorder 
„ hivalric romance, have .he additional interest 
of verity. They leave us in admiration of the bold 
and heroic qualities inherent in the Spanish cha- 
aeter which led that nation to so high a pitch of 
powe and glory , and which are still iscermble m 
The great m°ass of that gallant people, by those who 
have an opportunity of judging of them rightly. 

Before concluding these prefatory remarks the 
Author would acknowledge how much he has been 
nu.eb.ed to the third volume of the invaluable 
Historical Collection of Don Martin Fernandez de 
Navarrete, wherein that author has exhibited his 
usual industry, accuracy, and critical acumen. He 
has likewise profited greatly by the second volume 
of Oviedo's General History, which only exists n 
manuscript, and a copy of which he found in ^the 
Columbian Library of the Cathedral of Seville. 

He has had some assistance also from the docu- 
ments of the law-case between Don D.ego Colum- 



X INTRODUCTION. 

bus and the crown, which exists in the achives of 
the Indias, and for an inspection of which he is 
much indebted to the permission of the government 
and the kind attentions of Don Jozef de la Higuera 
y Lara, the intelligent keeper of the Archives. 
These; with the historical works of Herrera, Las 
Casas, Gomara, and Peter Martyr, have been his 
authorities for the facts contained in the following- 
work, though he has not thought proper to refer 
to them continually at the bottom of his page. 

While his work was going through the press, he 
received a volume of Spanish Biography, written 
with great elegance and accuracy, by Don Manuel 
Josef Quintana, and containing a Life of Vasco 
Nunez de Balboa. He was gratified to find that 
his own arrangement of facts was generally corro- 
borated by this work; though he was enabled to 
correct his dates in several instances, and to make 
a few other emendations from the volume of Seuor 
Quintana, whose position in Spain gave him the 
means of attaining superior exactness on these 
points. 



CONTENTS. 



ALONZO DE OJEDA, 

HIS F.UST VOYAGE, IN WHICH HE WAS ACCOMPANIED 

BY AMERIGO VESPUCCI. 

Page 

CHAP I -Some account of Ojeda— of Juan de la 
Cosa-of Amerigo Vespucci-Preparations for the 

Voyage.— (A. D. i4gg.) 

CHAP. II.— Departure from Spain-Arrival on the 

Coast of Paria— Customs of the Nations ... 7 
CHAP . HI.— Coasting of Terra Firma-Military Ex- 
pedition of Ojeda 

CHAP IV.— Discovery of the Gulf of Venezuela- 
Transactions there— Ojeda explores the Gulf- 
Penetrates to Maracaibo ...••• 
CHAP. V.— Prosecution of the Voyage-return to 
Spain 

PEDRO A. NINO and CHRIST. GDERRA. 
A. D. i499 ' - 

VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 

27 

A. D. 1499 

DIEGO DE LEPE AND R. DE BASTIDES. 

A.D. i5oo 

ALONZO DE OJEDA, 

SECOND VOYAGE. 

A.D. i5o2 • • 



x 'l CONTENTS. 

ALONZO DE OJEDA, 

THIRD VOYAGE. 

Page 
CHAP. I. — Ojeda applies for a Command — Has a 
rival Candidate in Diego de Nicuesa — His success 

— ( l5o 9) 5o 

CHAP. II. — Feud between the Rival Governors Ojeda 

and Nicuesa — A Challenge 55 

CHAP. III. — Exploits and Disasters of Ojeda on the 
Coast of Carthagena — Fate of the veteran Juan de 

la Cosa g 2 

CHAP. IV. — Arrival of Nicuesa — Vengeance taken 

on the Indians gq 

CHAP. V.— Ojeda founds the Colony of San Sebas- 
tian — Beleaguered by the Indians . . h5 
CHAP. VI. — Alonzo de Ojeda supposed by the Sa- 
vages to have a charmed life — Their experiment to 

try the fact „g 

CHAP. VII.— -Arrival of a Strange Ship at San Sebas- 
tian 80 

CHAP. VIII. — Factions in the Colony — A Convention 

made ... 84 

CHAP. IX. — Disastrous Voyage of Ojeda in the Pirate 

Sbi P - 86 

CHAP. X.— Toilsome March of Ojeda and his Com- 
panions through the morasses of Cuba ... 88 
CHAP. XI. — Ojeda performs his Vow to the Virgin 92 
CHAP. XII. — Arrival of Ojeda at Jamaica — His Re- 
ception by Juan de Esquibel n^ 

CHAP. XIII.— Arrival of Alonzo de Ojeda at San 

Domingo— Conclusion of his Story .... 97 



CONTENTS. XI 11 

DIEGO DE NICUESA. 

Page 

CHAP. I. — Nicuesa sails to the Westward — His Ship- 
wreck and subsequent Disasters lost 

CHAP. II. — Xicuesa and liis men on a desolate 
Island 1 06 

CHAP. III. — Arrival of a Boat — Conduct of Lope de 

Ol.ino 108 

CHAP. IV. — Nicuesa rejoins his Crews . . . . 1 1 r 

CHAP. V. — Sufferings of Nicuesa and his men on 

the Coast of the Isthmus ii3 

CHAP. VI. — Expedition of the Bachelor Enciso in 

search of the Seat of Government of Ojeda . . 118 

CHAP. VII. — The Bachelor hears unwelcome tidings 

of his destined Jurisdiction is3 

CHAP. VIH.— Crusade of the Bachelor Enciso against 

the Sepulchres of Zenu 125 

CHAP. IX.' — The Bachelor arrives at San Sebastian 
— His Disasters there, and subsequent Exploits 
atDarien 129 

CHAP. X. — The Bachelor Enciso undertakes the 

Command — His downfal . i3s 

CHAP. XI. — Perplexities at the Colony — Arrival of 
Colmenares 1 34 

CHAP. XII. — Colmenares goes in quest of Nicuesa i36 

CHAP. XIII. — Catastrophe of the unfortunate Ni- 
cuesa 1 4o 

•VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA, 

DISCOVERER OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 

CHAP. I. — Factions at Darien — Vasco Nunez ele- 
vated to the Command . 146 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Page 

CHAP. II. — Expedition to Coyba — Vasco Nunez re- 
ceives the daughter of a Cacique as hostage . 149 

CHAP. III. — Vasco Nunez hears of a Sea beyond 

the Mountains 1 54 

CHAP. IV. — Expedition of Vasco Nunez in quest of 

die Golden Temple of Dobayba 160 

CHAP. V. — Disaster on the Black River — Indian plot 

against Darien 1 66 

CHAP. VI. — Further Factions in the Colony — Arro- 
gance of Alonzo Perez and the Bachelor Corral 170 

CHAP. VII. — Vasco Nunez determines to seek the 

Sea beyond the Mountains 176 

CHAP. VIII. — Expedition in quest of the Southern 
Sea 178 

CHAP. IX.— Discovery of the PaciGc Ocean . . 184 

CHAP. X. — Vasco Nunez marches to the shores of 
the South Sea 188 

CHAP. XI. — Adventures of Vasco Nunez on the 

Pacific Ocean ig4 

CHAP. XII. — Further Adventures and Exploits of 
Vasco Nunez 200 

CHAP. XIII. — Vasco Nunez sets out on his return 
across the Mountains — His contests with the Sa- 
vages 203 

CHAP. XIV. — Enterprise against Tubanama, the 
warlike Cacique of the Mountains — Return to Da- 
rien 208 

CHAP. XV. — Transactions in Spain — Pedrarias Da- 
vila appointed to the command of Darien — Tidings 
received in Spain of the Discovery of the Pacific 
Ocean 214 



CONTENTS. xv 

Page 

CHAP. XVI. — Arrival and grand Entry of Don Pe- 

drarias Davila into Darien 222 

CHAP. XVII. — Perfidious Conduct of Don Pedrarias 

towards Vasco Nunez 227 

CHAP. XVIII. — Calamities of the Spanish Cavaliers 

at Darien 23 1 

CHAP. XIX. — Fruitless Expedition of Pedrarias . 233 

CHAP. XX. — Second Expedition of Vasco Nunez in 

quest of the Gold Temple of Dohayha . . . 236 

CHAP. XXI. — Letters from the King in favour of 
Vasco Nunez — Arrival of Garahito — Arrest of 
Vasco Nunez 240 

CHAP XXII. — Expedition of Morales and Pizarro to 
the shores of the Pacific Ocean — Their Visit to 
the Pearl Islands — Their disastrous Return across 
the Mountains a44 

CHAP. XX111.— Unfortunate Enterprises of the Offi- 
cers of Pedrarias — Matrimonial Compact between 
the Governor and Vasco Nunez a54 

CHAP. XXIV. — Vasco Nunez transports ships across 

the mountains to the Pacific Ocean .... 258 

CHAP. XXV.— Cruise of Vasco Nunez in the South- 
ern Sea — Rumours from Acla 263 

CHAP. XXVI. — Reconnoitring Expedition of Gara- 
hito — Stratagem of Pedrarias to entrap Vasco 
Nunez 265 

CHAP. XXVII. — Vasco Nunez and the Astrologer 

— his return to Acla 269 

CHAP. XXVIIL— Trial of Vasco Nunez ... 272 
CHAP. XXIX. — Execution of Vasco Nunez . . 277 



XV1 CONTENTS. 

Page 

VALD1 VIA and his Companions 2 °° 

MICER CODRO, the Astrologer 2 9 6 

JUAN PONCE DE LEON, 

CONQUEROR OF PORTO RICO, AND DISCOVERER OF FLORIDA. 

CHAP. I.— Reconnoitring Expedition of Juan Ponce 

de Leon to the Island of Boriquen . • • • 2 99 

CHAP. II.— Juan Ponce aspires to the government 
of Porto Rico 

CHAP. III.— Juan Ponce rules with a strong hand- 
Exasperation of the Indians— Their experiment to 
prove whether the Spaniards were mortal . • 3o5 

CHAP. IV.— Conspiracy of the Caciques— fate of 
r. . 3oo 

Sotomayor 

CHAP. V.— War of Juan Ponce with the Cacique 
Aguaybana 

CHAP. VI.— Juan Ponce de Leon hears of a wonder- 
ful country and miraculous fountain . • • 3 19 

CHAP. VII.— Cruise of Juan Ponce de Leon in 

•ch of the Fountain of Youth . . • • 322 



scat 



CHAP. VIII.— Expedition of Juan Ponce against 

the Caribs— his Death 3a6 



A Visit to Pau 



APPENDIX. 

. . • 33 1 



Manifesto of Alonzo de Ojeda / 



VOYAGES 

OF THE 

COMPANIONS OF COLUMBUS. 



ALONZO DE OJEDA, 1 

HIS FIRST VOYAGE, 

IN WB1CH HE WAS ACCOMPANIED BY 

AMERIGO VESPUCCI. 2 
CHAPTER J. 

SOME ACCOUNT OF OJEDA — OF JUAN DE LA COSA 
— OF AMERIGO VESPUCCI — PREPARATIONS FOR 
THE VOYAGE. (l499-) 

Thosi who have read the History of Columbus 
will, doubtless, remember the character and ex- 
ploits of Alonzo de Ojeda; as some of the readers 
of the following pages, however, may not have 

1 Ojeda is pronounced in Spanish Ohcda, with a strong aspira- 
tion oi the h. 

' Vespucci, pronounced Yespuchy. 



3 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i499- 

perused that work, and as it is proposed at present 
to trace the subsequent fortunes of this youthful 
adventurer, a brief sketch of him may not be 
deemed superfluous. 

Alonzo de Ojeda was a native of Cuenca, in 
New Castile, and of a respectable family. He was 
brought up as a page or esquire, in the service of 
Don Luis de Cerda, Duke of Medina Celi, one of 
the most powerful nobles of Spain ; the same who 
for some time patronized Columbus during his ap- 
plication to the Spanish court. 1 

In those warlike days, when the peninsula was 
distracted by contests between the christian king- 
doms, by feuds between the nobles and the crown, 
and by the incessant and marauding warfare with 
the Moors, the household of a Spanish nobleman 
was a complete school of arms, where the youth of 
the country were sent to be trained up in all kinds 
of hardy exercises, and to be led to battle under 
an illustrious banner. Such was especially the 
case with the service of the Duke of Medina Celi, 
who possessed princely domains, whose household 
was a petty court, who led legions of armed re- 
tainers to the field, and who appeared in splendid 
state and with an immense retinue, more as an ally 
of Ferdinand and Isabella, than as a subject. He 
engaged in many of the roughest expeditions of 
the memorable war of Granada, always insisting 
on leading his own troops in person, when the ser- 

1 Varones Ilustrcs, por F. Pizarro y Orellana, p. 4'- Las Casas, 
Hist. In.!. 1. i. c. 82. 



i499-] ALONZO DE OJEDA— FIRST VOYAGE. 3 

vice was of peculiar difficulty and danger. Alonzo 
de Ojeda was formed to signalize himself in such 
a school. Though small of stature, he was well 
made, and of wonderful force and activity, with a 
towering spirit and a daring eye that seemed to 
make up for deficiency of height. He was ahold 
and graceful horseman, an excellent foot-soldier, 
dextrous with every weapon, and noted for his ex- 
traordinary skill and adroitness in all feats of 
strength and agility. 

He must have heenquiteyoungwhen he followed 
the Duke of Medina Celi, as page, to the Moorish 
wars; for he was hut about twenty-one years of 
age when he accompanied Columbus in his second 
voyage; he had already, however, distinguished 
himself by his enterprising spirit and headlong 
valour; and his exploits during that voyage con- 
tributed to enhance his reputation. He returned 
to Spain with Columbus, but did not accompany 
him in his third voyage, in the spring of i^gS. 
He was probably impatient of subordination, and 
ambitious of a separate employment or command, 
which the influence of his connexions gave him a 
great chance of obtaining. He had a cousin ger- 
man of his own name, the reverend Padre Alonzo 
de Ojeda, a Dominican friar, who Avas one of the 
first inquisitors of Spain, and a great favourite with 
the Catholic sovereigns. 1 This father inquisitor 
Avas, moreover, an intimate friend of the bishop 
Don Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, who had the chief 

1 Pizarro. Varoncs Ilustrcs. 



4 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1.^99. 

management of the affairs of the Indies, under 
which general name were comprehended all the 
countries discovered in the new world. Through 
the good ofKces of his cousin inquisitor, therefore, 
Ojeda had been introduced to the notice of the 
bishop, who took him into his especial favour and 
patronage. Mention has already been made, in 
the History of Columbus, of a present made by 
the bishop to Ojeda of a small Flemish painting 
of the Holy Virgin. This the young adventurer 
carried about with him as a protecting relic, invok- 
ing it at all times of peril, whether by sea or land; 
and to the especial care of the Virgin he attributed 
the remarkable circumstance that he had never 
been wounded in any of the innumerable brawls 
and battles into which he was continually betrayed 
by his rash and fiery temperament. 

While Ojeda was lingering about the court, let- 
ters were received from Columbus, giving an ac- 
count of the events of his third voyage, especially 
of his discovery of the coast of Paria, which he 
described as abounding with drugs and spices, with 
gold and silver, and precious stones, and, above 
all, with oriental pearls, and which he supposed 
to be the borders of that vast and unknown region 
of the East, wherein, according to certain learned 
theorists, was situated the terrestrial paradise. 
Specimens of the pearls, procured in considerable 
quantities fiomthenatives, accompanied his epistle, 
together with charts descriptive of his route. These 
tidings caused a great sensation among the mari- 
time adventurers of Spain; but no one was more 



i499 ] ALONZO DE OJEDA— FIRST VOYAGE. 5 

excited by them than Alonzo de Ojeda, who, from 
his intimacy with the bishop, had full access to the 
charts and correspondence of Columhus. He im- 
mediately conceived the project of making' a voy- 
age in the route thus marked out hy the admiral, 
and of seizing upon the first fruits of discovery 
which he had left ungathered. His scheme met 
with ready encouragement from Fonseca, who, as 
has heretofore been shown, was an implacable 
enemy to Columbus, and willing to promote any 
measure that might injure or molest him. The 
bishop accordingly granted a commission to Ojeda, 
authorizing him to fit out an armament and pro- 
ceed on a voyage of discovery, with the proviso 
merely that he should not visit any territories ap- 
pertaining to Portugal, or any of the lands dis- 
covered in the name of Spain previous to the year 
i495. The latter part of this provision appears 
to have been craftily worded by the bishop, so as 
to leave the coast of Paria and its pearl fisheries 
open to Ojeda, they having been recently discovered 
by Columbus in 1498. 

The commission was signed by Fonseca alone, 
in virtue of general powers vested in him for such 
purposes, but the signature of the sovereigns did 
not appear on the instrument, and it is doubtful 
whether their sanction was sought on the occasion. 
He knew that Columbus had recently remonstrated 
against a royal mandate issued in i/|9&, permitting 
Voyages of Discovery by private adventurers, and 
that the sovereigns had in consequence revoked 
their mandate wherever it might be deemed pre- 



6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

judicial to the stipulated privileges of the admiral. 1 
It is probable, therefore, that the bishop avoided 
raising any question that might impede the enter- 
prise; being confident of the ultimate approbation 
of Ferdinand, who would be well pleased to have 
his dominions in the new world extended by the 
discoveries of private adventurers, undertaken at 
their own expense. It was stipulated in this, as 
well as in subsequent licenses for private expedi- 
tions, that a certain proportion of the profits, gene- 
rally a 4th or 5th, should be reserved for the crown. 
Having thus obtained permission to make the 
voyage, the next consideration with Ojeda was to 
find the means. He was a young adventurer, a 
mere soldier of fortune, and destitute of wealth ; 
but he had a high reputation for courage and en- 
terprise, and with these, it was thought, would 
soon make his way to the richest parts of the 
newly-discovered lands, and have the wealth of 
the Indies at his disposal. He had no difficulty, 
therefore, in finding monied associates among the 
rich merchants of Seville, who, in that age of dis- 
covery, were ever ready to stake their property 
upon the schemes of roving navigators. With such 
assistance he soon equipped a squadron of four 
vessels at Port St Mary, opposite Cadiz. Among 
the seamen who engaged with him were several 
who had just returned from accompanying Colum- 
bus in his voyage to this very coast of Paria. The 
principal associate of Ojeda, and one on whom he 
placed great reliance, was Juan de la Cosa ; who 

' Navarrete, t. ii. Document cxiii. 



i',90] ALONZO DE OJEDA— FIRST VOYAGE. 7 

accompanied him as firstmate, or, as it wastermed, 
chief pilot. This was a hold Biscayan, who may 
be 1 egarded as a disciple of Columhus, with whom 
he had sailed in his second voyage, when he 
coasted Cuha and Jamaica, and he had since ac- 
companied Rodrigo de Bast ides, in an expedition 
along the coast of Terra Firma. The hardy ve- 
teran was looked up to by his contemporaries as 
an oracle of the seas, and was pronounced one of 
the most able mariners of the day ; he may be ex- 
cused, therefore, if, in his harmless vanity, he con- 
sidered himself on a par even with Columbus. 1 

Another conspicuous associate of Ojeda, in this 
voyage, was Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine mer- 
chant, induced by broken fortunes and a rambling 
disposition to seek adventures in the new world. 
Whether he had any pecuniary interest in the ex- 
pedition, and in what capacity he sailed, does not 
appear. His importance has entirely arisen from 
subsequent circumstances ; from his having written 
and published a narrative of his voyages, and from 
his name having eventually been given to the new 
world. 



CHAPTER II. 

DEPARTURE FROM SPAIN— ARRIVAL ON THE COAST 
OF PARIA-CUSTOMS OF THE NATIONS. 

Ojeda sailed from Port St Mary on the 20th of 

May, 1 499, and, having touched for supplies at 

1 Navarrete, Collec. Viag. t. iii. p. 4- 



8 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i4gg. 

the Canaries, took a departure from Gomara, pur- 
suing the route of Columbus in his third voyage, 
being guided by the chart he had sent home, as 
well as by the mariners who had accompanied him 
on that occasion. At the end of twenty-four days 
lie reached the continent of the new world, about 
two hundred leagues farther south than the part 
discovered by Columbus, being, as it is supposed, 
the coast of Surinam. 1 

From hence he ran along the coast of the Gulf 
of Paria, passing the mouths of many rivers, but 
especially those of the Esquivo and the Oronoko. 
These, to the astonishment of the Spaniards, unac- 
customed as yet to the mighty rivers of the new 
world, poured forth such a prodigious volume of 
water, as to freshen the sea for a great extent. 
They beheld none of the natives until they arrived 
at the Island of Trinidad, on which island they 
met with traces of the recent visit of Columbus. 

Vespucci, in his letters, gives a long description 
of the people of this island and of the coast of 
Paria, who were of the Carib race, tall, well made 
and vigorous, and expert with the bow, the lance 
and the buckler. His description, in general, re- 
sembles those which have frequently been given of 
the aboriginals of the new world; there are tAvo 
or three particulars, however, worthy of citation. 

They appeared, he said, to believe in no reli- 
gious creed, to have no place of worship, and to 
make no prayers or sacrifices; but, he adds, from 
1 Navarrete, t. iii. p. 5. 



1 499-] ALONZO DE OJEDA-FIRST VOYAGE. 9 

the voluptuousness of their lives, they might he 
considered llpicureans. ' Their habitations were 
built in the shape of bells ; of the trunks of trees, 
thatched with pahn-leaves, and were proof against 
wind and weather. They appeared to be in com- 
mon, and some of them were of such magnitude as 
to contain six hundred persons : in one place there 
were eight principal houses capable of sheltering 
nearly ten thousand inhabitants. Every seven or 
eijdit vears the natives were obliged to change 
their residence, from the maladies engendered by 
the heat of the climate in their crowded habita- 
tions. 

Their riches consisted in beads and ornaments 
made from the bones of fishes; in small white and 
green stones strung like rosaries, with which they 
adorned their persons, and in the beautiful plumes 
of various colours for which the tropical birds are 
noted. 

The Spaniards smiled at their simplicity in at- 
taching an extraordinary value to such worthless 
trifles; while the savages, in all probability, were 
squall v surprised at beholding the strangers so 
eager after gold, and pearls and precious stones, 
which to themselves were objects of indifference. 

Their manner of treating the dead was similar 
to that observed among the natives of some of the 
islands. Having deposited the corpse in a cavern 
or sepulchre, they placed ajar of water and a few- 
eatables at its head, and then abandoned it without 

1 Viages de Vespucci. Navarrcte, t. iii. p. a 1 1. 



10 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

moan or lamentation. In some parts of the coast, 
when a person was considered near his end, his 
nearest relatives bore him to the woods, and laid 
him in a hammock suspended to the trees. They 
then danced round him until evening-, when, hav- 
ing left within his reach sufficient meat and drink 
to sustain him for four days, they repaired to their 
habitations. If he recovered and returned home, 
he was received with much ceremony and rejoi- 
cing-; if he died of his malady or of famine, no- 
thing more was thought of him. 

Their mode of treating a fever is also worthy of 
mention. In the height of themalady they plunged 
the patient in a bath of the coldest water, after 
which they obliged him to make many evolutions 
round a great lire, until he was in a violent heat, 
when they put him to bed, that he might sleep: a 
treatment, adds Amerigo Vespucci, by which we 
saw many cured. 



CHAPTER III. 



COASTING OF TERRA FIRMA MILITARY EXPEDI- 
TION OF OJEDA. 

After touching at various parts of Trinidad and 
the Gulf of Paria, Ojeda passed through the strait 
of the Boca del Drago, or Dragon's Mouth, which 
Columbus had found so formidable, and then 



l499 ] ALONZO DE OJEDA-FIRST VOYAGE. ) I 

steered his course along - the coast of Terra Finna, 
landing occasionally until he arrived at Curiana, or 
the Gull of Pearls. From hence he stood to the 
opposite island of Margarita, previously discovered 
by Columbus, and since renowned for its pearl 
fishery. This, as well as several adjacent islands, 
he visited and explored; after which he returned 
to the main land, and touched at Cumana and Ma- 
racapana, where he found the rivers infested with 
alligators resembling the crocodiles of the Nile. 

Finding a convenient harbour at Maracapana, 
he unloaded and careened his vessels there, and 
built a small brigantine. The natives came to him 
in great numbers, bringing abundance of venison, 
fish, and cassava bread, and aiding the seamen in 
their labours. Their hospitality was not certainly 
disinterested, for they sought to gain the protection 
of the Spaniards, whom they reverenced as super- 
human beings. When they thought they had suf- 
ficiently secured their favour, they represented to 
Ojeda that their coast was subject to invasionfrom 
a distant island, the inhabitants of which were 
cannihals, and carried their people into captivity, 
to be devoured at their unnatural banquets. They 
besought Ojeda, therefore, to avenge them upon 
these ferocious enemies. 

The request was gratifying to the fighting pro- 
pensities of Alonzo de Ojeda, and to his love of 
ad venture, and was readily granted. Taking seven 
of the natives on board of his vessels, therefore, 
as guides, he set sail in quest of the cannibals. 



12 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

After sailing for seven clays he came to a chain of 
islands, some of which were peopled, others un- 
inhabited, and which are supposed to have been the 
Carribee Islands. One of these was pointed out by 
his guides as the habitation of their foes. On run- 
ning near the shore he beheld it thronged Avith 
savage warriors, decorated with coronets of gaudy 
plumes, their bodies painted with a variety of 
colours. They were armed with bows and arrows, 
with darts, lances, and bucklers, and seemed pre- 
pared to defend their island from invasion. 

This show of war was calculated to rouse the 
martial spirit of Ojeda. He brought his ships to 
anchor, ordered out his boats, and provided each 
with a paterero or small cannon. Beside the oars- 
men, each boat contained a number of soldiers, 
who were told to crouch out of sight in the bottom. 
The boats then pulled in steadily for the shore. 
As they approached the Indians let fly a cloud of 
arrows, but without m uch effect. Seeing the boats 
continue to advance, the savages threw themselves 
into the sea, and brandished their lances to prevent 
their landing. Upon this, the soldiers sprang up 
in the boats and discharged the patereroes. At 
the sound and smoke of these unknown weapons 
the savages abandoned the water in affright, while 
Ojeda and his men leaped on shore and pursued 
them. The Carib warriors rallied on the banks, 
and fought for a long time with that courage pe- 
culiar to their race, but were at length driven to 



1 499-] ALONZO DE OJEDA-FIRST VOYAGE. I 3 

the woods, at the edge of the sword, leaving many 
killed and Avounded on the field of battle. 

On the following day the savages were seen on 
the shore in still greater numbers, armed and 
painted, and decorated with war plumes, and 
sounding dehance Avith their conchs and drums. 
Ojeda again landed with fifty-seven men, whom he 
separated into four companies, and ordered them 
to charge the enemy from different directions. The 
Caribs fought for a time hand to hand, displaying 
great dexterity in covering themselves with their 
bucklers, but were at length entirely routed and 
driven, with great slaughter, to the forests. The 
Spaniards had but one man killed and twenty-one 
wounded in these combats,— such superior advan- 
tage did their armour give them over the naked 
savages. Having plundered and set fire to the 
houses they returned triumphantly to their ships, 
with a number of Carib captives; and made sail 
for the mainland. Ojeda bestowed a part of 
the spoil upon the seven Indians who had accom- 
panied him as guides, and sent them exulting to 
their homes, to relate to their countrymen the 
signal vengeance that had been wreaked upon their 
foes. He then anchored in a bay, where he re- 
mained for twenty days until his men had recover- 
ed from their wounds. 1 

1 There is some discrepance in the early accounts of this battle, 
as to the time and place of its occurrence. The author has col- 
lated the narratives of Vespucci, Las Casas, Herrera, and Peter 



I 4 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i4gg. 



CHAPTER IV. 

DISCOVERY OF THE GULF OF VENEZUELA— TRANS- 
ACTIONS THERE OJEDA EXPLORES THE GULF 

— PENETRATES TO MARACAIBO. 

His crew being refreshed and the wounded suffi- 
ciently recovered, Ojeda made sail, and touched at 
the island of Curazao, which, according to the 
accounts of Vespucci, was inhabited by a race of 
giants, « every woman appearing a Penthesilea, 
and every man an Antaeus." ' As Vespucci was a 
scholar, and as he supposed himself exploring the 
regions of the extreme East, the ancient realm of 
fable, it is probable his imagination deceived him, 
and construed the formidable accounts given by 
the Indians of their cannibal neighbours of the 
islands, into something according with his recol- 
lections of classic fable. Certain it is that the 
reports of subsequent voyagers proved the inha- 
bitants of the island to be of the ordinary size. 

Proceeding along the coast he arrived at a vast 
deep gulf, resembling a tranquil lake; entering 
which, lie beheld on the eastern side a village, the 
construction of which struck him with surprise. 
It consisted of twenty large houses, shaped like 

Martyr, and the evidence given in the lawsuit of Diego Columbus, 
and has endeavoured as much as possible to reconcile them. 
1 Vespucci. — Letter to Lorenzo de Pier Francisco de Medicis. 



i499-] ALOXZO DE OJFDA— FIRST VOYAGE. I 5 

bells, and built on piles driven into tbe bottom of 
tbe lake, which in this part was limpid and of but 
little depth. Each house was provided with a 
drawbridge, and with canoes by which the com- 
munication was carried on. From these resem- 
blances to the Italian city, Ojeda gave to the bay 
the name of the Gulf of Venice : and it is called at 
the present day Venezuela, or little Venice : the 
Indian name was Coquibacoa. 

When the inhabitants beheld the ships standing 
into the bay, looking like wonderful and unknown 
apparitions from the deep, they fled with terror to 
their houses, and raised the drawbridges. The 
Spaniards remained for a time gazing with admi- 
ration at this amphibious village, when a squadron 
of canoes entered the harbour from the sea. On 
beholding the ships they paused in mute amaze- 
ment,and on the Spaniards attempting to approach 
them, paddled swiftly to shore, and plunged into 
the forest. They soon returned with sixteen young 
girls, whom they conveyed in their canoes to the 
ships, distributing four on board of each, either as 
peace offerings or as tokens of amity and confi- 
dence. The best of understanding now seemed to 
be established ; and the inhabitants of the village 
came swarming about the ships in their canoes, 
and others swimming in great numbers from the 
shores. 

The friendship of the savages, however, was all 
delusive. On a sudden several old women at the 
doors of the houses uttered loud shrieks, tearing 



l6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

their hair in fury. It appeared to be a signal for 
hostility. The sixteen nymphs plunged into the 
sea and made for shore; the Indians in the ca- 
noes caught up their bows and discharged a flight 
of arrows, and even those who were swimming 
brandished darts and lances, which they had hi- 
therto concealed beneath the water. 

Ojeda was for a moment surprised at seeing war 
thus starting up on every side, and the very sea 
bristling with weapons. Manning his boats, he 
immediately charged amongst the thickest of the 
enemy, shattered and sunk several of their canoes, 
killed twenty Indians and wounded many more, 
and spread such a panic among them, that most of 
the survivors flung themselves into the sea and 
swam to shore. Three of them were taken pri- 
soners, and two of the fugitive girls, and were con- 
veyed on board of the ships, where the men were 
put in irons. One of them, however, and the two 
girls, succeeded in dexterously escaping the same 
night. 

Ojeda had but five men wounded in the affray; 
all of whom recovered. He visited the houses, 
but found them abandoned and destitute of booty ; 
notwithstanding the unprovoked hostility of the 
inhabitants, he spared the buildings, that he might 
not cause useless irritation along the coast. 

Continuing to explore this gulf, Ojeda pene- 
trated to a port or harbour, to which he gave the 
name of St Bartholomew, but which is supposed 
to be the same at present known by the original 



i499-] ALONZO DE OJEDA -FIRST VOYAGE. 17 

Indian name of Maracaibo. Here, in compliance 
with the entreaties of the natives, he sent a de- 
tachment of twenty-seven Spaniards on a visit to 
the interior. For nine days they were conducted 
from town to town, andfeasted and almost idolized 
by the Indians, who regarded them as angelic 
beings, performing their national dances and 
games, and chaunting their traditional ballads for 
their entertainment. 

The natives of this part were distinguished for the 
symmetry of their forms, the females in particular 
appeared to the Spaniards to surpass all others 
that they had vet beheld in the new world for grace 
and beauty. Neither did the men display in the 
least degree that jealousy which prevailed in the 
other parts of the coast; but, on the contrary, per- 
mitted the most frank and intimate intercourse 
with their wives and daughters. 

By the time the Spaniards set out on their return 
to the ship, the wdiole country wasaroused, pouring 
forth its population, male and female, to do them 
honour. Some bore them in litters or hammocks, 
that they might not be fatigued with the journey, 
and happy was the Indian who had the honour of 
bearing a Spaniard on his shoulders across a river. 
Others loaded themselves with the presents that 
had been bestowed on their guests, consisting of 
rich plumes, weapons of various kinds, and tropical 
birds and animals. In this way they returned in 
triumphant procession to the ships, the woods and 
shores resounding with their songs and shouts. 

1. 



]8 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [ 1 4gg. 

Many of the Indians crowded into the boats 
that took the detachment to the ships; others put 
off in canoes, or swam from shore, so that in a little 
while the vessels were thronged with upwards of a 
thousand wondering natives. While gazing and 
marvelling at the strange objects around them, 
Ojeda ordered the cannon to be discharged, at 
the sound of which, says Vespucci, the Indians 
a plunged into the water like so many frogs from 
a bank.') Perceiving, however, that it was done in 
harmless mirth, they returned onboard, and passed 
the rest of the day in great festivity. The Spa- 
niards brought away with them several of the 
beautifulandhospitablefemalesfromthisplace,one 
of whom, named by them Isabel, was much prized 
by Ojeda, and accompanied him in a subsequent 
voyage. 1 

1 Navarrete, t. iii. p.S. Idem, pp. 107, 108. 

It is worthy of particular mention that Ojeda, in his report of 
his voyage to the Sovereigns, informed them of his having met 
with English voyagers in the vicinity of Coquibacoa, and that the 
Spanish government attached such importance to his information 
as to take measures to prevent any intrusion into those parts by 
the English. It is singular that no record should exist of this early 
and extensive expedition of English navigators. If it was under- 
taken in the service of the Crown, some document might be found 
concerning it among the archives of the reign of Henry VII. The 
English had already discovered the continent of .North America. 
This had been done in i4<-)7> by John Cabot, a Venetian, accom- 
panied by his son Sebastian, who was born in Bristol. They sailed 
under a license of Henry VII, who was to have a fifth of the pro- 
fits of the voyage. On the 24th June they discovered Newfound- 
land, and afterwards coasted the continent quite to Florida, bring- 



1 499-J ALONZO DE OJEDA-F1RST VOYAGE. 



CHAPTER V. 

PROSECUTION OF THE VOYAGE RETURN TO 

SPAIN. 
Leaving the friendly port of Coquibacoa, Ojecla 
continued along the western shores of the gulf of 
Venezuela, and standing out to sea, and doubling 
Cape Macaraibo, he pursued his coasting voyage 
from port to port, and promontory to promontory, 
of this unknown continent, until he reached that 
long stretching headland called Cape de la Vela. 
There the state of his vessels, and perhaps the dis- 
appointment of his hopes at not meeting with abun- 
dant sources of immediate wealth, induced him to 
abandon all further voyaging along the coast, and 
changing his course, he stood across the Caribbean 
Sea for Hispaniola. The tenor of his commission 
forbade his visiting that island ; but Ojeda was 
not a man to stand upon trifles when his interest 
or inclination prompted the contrary. He trusted 
to excuse the infraction of his orders by the al- 
leged necessity of touching at the island to caulk 
and refit his vessels, and to procure provisions. His 
true object, however, is supposed to have been to 
cut dye-wood, which abounds in the western part 
of Hispaniola. 

ing back to England a valuable cargo and several of the natives. 
This was the first discovery of the mainland of America. The 
success of this expedition may have prompted the one which 
Ojeda encountered in the neighbourhood of Coquibacoa. 



20 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [»499- 

He accordingly anchored at Ya qui mo in Sep- 
tember, and landed with a large party of his men. 
Columbus at tbattimeheld command of the island, 
and, hearing- of this unlicensed intrusion, des- 
patched Francesco Roldan, the quondam rebel, to 
call Ojeda to account. The contest of stratagem 
and management that took place between these 
two ad roit and d a ring ad venturers, has been already 
detailed in the History of Columbus. Roldan was 
eventually successful, and Ojeda, being obliged to 
leave Hispaniola, resumed his rambling voyage, 
visiting various islands, from whence he carried off 
numbers of the natives. He at length arrived at 
Cadiz in June, i5oo, with his ships crowded with 
captives, whom he sold as slaves. So meagre, how- 
ever, was the result of this expedition, that we 
are told, when all the expenses were deducted, but 
5oo ducats remained to be divided between fifty- 
five adventurers. What made this result the more 
mortifying was, that a petty armament, which had 
sailed some time after that of Ojeda, had returned 
two months before him, rich with the spoils of the 
New World. A brief account of this latter expe- 
dition is necessary to connect this series of minor 
discoveries. 



PEDRO ALONZO NINO 



CHRISTOVAL GUERRA.— (1499.) 



The permission granted by Bishop Fonseca to 
Alonzo de Ojeda to undertake a private expedition 
to the New World, roused the emulation of others 
of the followers of Columbus. Among these was 
Pedro Alonzo Nino, a hardy seaman, native of 
Moguer in the vicinity of Palos, Avho had sailed 
with Columbus, as a pilot, in his first voyage, and 
also in his cruisings along the coasts of Cuba and 
Paria. 2 He soon obtained from the bishop a si- 
milar license to that given to Ojeda, and like the 
latter, sought for some monied confederate among 
the rich merchants of Seville. One of these, 
named Luis Guerra, offered to fit out a caravel for 
the expedition ; but on condition that his brother, 
Christoval Guerra, should have the command. 
The poverty of Nino compelled him to assent to 
the stipulations of the man of wealth, and he sailed 

1 Pronounced Ninyo. The N in Spanish is always pronounced 
as if followed by die letter y. 

* Testimony of'Bastides in the lawsuit of Diego Columbus. 



22 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

as subaltern in his own enterprise; but his nautical 
skill and knowledge soon gained him the ascend- 
ancy ; he became virtually the captain, and ulti- 
mately enjoyed the whole credit of the voyage. 

The bark of these two adventurers was but of 
fifty tons burthen, and the crew thirty-three souls, 
all told. With this slender armament they under- 
took to t "verse unknown and dangerous seas, and 
to explore the barbarous shores of that vast conti- 
nent recently discovered by Columbus;— such was 
the daring spirit of the Spanish voyagers of those 
days. 

It was about the beginning of June, 1/199, and 
but a few days after the departure of Ojeda, that 
they put to sea. They sailed from the little port 
of Palos, the original cradle of American discovery, 
whose brave and skilful mariners long continued 
foremost in all enterprises to the New World. 
Being guided by the chart of Columbus, they fol- 
lowed his route, and reached the southern conti- 
nent, a little beyond Paria, about fifteen days after 
the same coast had been visited by Ojeda. 

They then proceeded to the Gulf of Paria, where 
they landed to cut dye-wood, and were amicably 
entertained by the natives. Shortly after, sallying 
from the gulf by the Boca del Drago, they en- 
countered eighteen canoes of Caribs, the pirate 
rovers of these seas, and the terror of the border- 
ing lands. This savage armada, instead of being 
daunted, as usual, by the sight of a European ship, 
with swelling sails, resembling some winged mon- 



1 490 ] PEDRO A. N1XO AND CHR. GUERRA. li 

ster of the deep, considered it only as an object of 
plunder or hostility, and assailed it with showers 
of arrows. The sudden burst of artillery, how- 
ever, from the sides of the caravel, and the havoc 
made among the Caribs by this seeming thunder, 
^ti in I. them w iih dismay, and they lied in all direc- 
tions. The Spaniards succeeded in capturing" one 
of the canoes, with one of the warriors who had 
manned it. In the bottom of the canoe lay an 
Indian prisoner, bound hand and foot. On being 
liberated he informed the Spaniards, by signs, that 
these < .11 ibs had been on a marauding expedition 
alonj; the neighbouring coasts, shutting themselves 
up at night in a stockade which they carried with 
them, and issuing forth by day to plunder the vil- 
lages anil to make captives, lie had been one of 
seven prisoners; hiscompanionshad beendevoured 
before his eyes at the cannibal banquets of these 
savages, and he had been awaiting the same miser- 
able fate. Honest Nino and his confederates were 
so indignant at this recital, that, receiving it as 
established fact, they performed what they consi- 
dered an act of equitable justice, by abandoning 
the Garib to the discretion of his late captive. The 
latter fell upon the defenceless warrior with fist 
and foot and cudgel ; nor did his rage subside even 
after the breath had been mauled out of his victim, 
but, tearing the grim head from the body, he 
placed it on a pole, as a trophy of his vengeance. 
Nino and his fellow-adventurers now steered for 
the island of Margarita, where they obtained a 



24 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

considerable quantity of pearls by barter. They 
afterwards skirted the opposite coast of Gumana, 
trading cautiously and shrewdly, from port to 
port; sometimes remaining on board of their little 
bark, and obliging the savages to come off to them, 
when the latter appeared too numerous; at other 
times venturing on shore, and even into the inte- 
rior. They were invariably treated with amity by 
the natives, who were perfectly naked, excepting 
that they were adorned with necklaces and brace- 
lets of pearls. These they sometimes gave freely 
to the Spaniards, at other times they exchanged 
them for glass beads and other trinkets, and smiled 
at the folly of the strangers in making such silly 
bargains. 1 

The Spaniards were struck with the grandeur 
and density of the forests along this coast ; for in 
these regions of heat and moisture vegetation ap- 
pears in its utmost magnificence. They heard also 
the cries and roarings of wild and unknown ani- 
mals in the woodlands, which, however, appeared 
not to be very dangerous, as the Indians went 
about the forest armed solely with bows and 
arrows. From meeting with deer and rabbits, 
they were convinced that that was a part of Terra 
Firina, not having found any animals of the kind 
on the islands. 2 

Nino and Guerra Avere so well pleased with the 
hospitality of the natives of Cumana, and with the 

1 Las Casas. Hist. Ind. lib. i. c. 171. 
7 - Navarrute, t. iii. p. i\. 



i4g9] PEDRO A. NINO AND CHE. GUERRA. 25 
profitable traffic for pearls, by which they obtained 
mam of great size and beauty, that they remained 
upwards of three months on the coast. 

They then proceeded westward to a country 
called Cauchieto, trading, as usual, for pearls, and 
for the inferior kind of gold called guanin. At 
length they arrived at a place where there was a 
kind of fortress protecting a number of houses and 
gardens situated'on a river, the whole forming, to 
the eyes of the Spaniards, one of the most delicious 
abodes imaginable. They were about to land and 
enjoy the pleasures of this fancied Paradise, when 
they beheld upwards of a thousand Indians, armed 
wild bows and arrows and war-clubs, preparing to 
give them a warm reception ; having been probably 
incensed by the recent visit of Ojeda. As Nino 
and Guerra had not the fighting propensities of 
Ojeda, and were in quest of profit rather than 
renown, having moreover, in all probability, the 
fear of the rich merchant of Seville before their 
eyes, they prudently abstained from landing, and, 
abandoning this hostile coast, returned forthwith 
to Cumana, to resume their trade for pearls. They 
soon amassed a great number, many of which were 
equal in size and beauty to the most celebrated of 
the East, though they had been injured in boring 
from a want of proper implements. 

Satisfied with their success, they now set sail 
for Spain, and piloted their little bark safely to 
Bayonne in Gallicia, where they anchored about 
the middle of April, t5oo, nearly two months be- 

2 



9.6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i4gg. 

fore the arrival of Ojeda and his associates, La 
Cosa and Vespucci. 1 

The most successful voyagers to the New World 
were doomed to trouble from their very success. 
The ample amount of pearls paid to the treasury, 
as the royal portion of the profits of this expedi- 
tion, drew suspicion instead of favour upon the 
two adventurers. They were accused of having 
concealed a great part of the pearls collected by 
them, thus defrauding their companions and the 
crown. Pedro Alonzo Nino was actually thrown 
into prison on this accusation, but, nothing being 
proved against him, he was eventually set free, and 
enjoyed the enviable reputation of having per- 
formed the richest voyage that had yet been made 
to the New World. 2 

1 Peter Martyr. Other historians give a different date for their 
arrival. Herrera says Feb. 6. 

2 Navarrete, Collect, t. iii. p. n. Herrera, d. i. 1. iv. c. v. 



VICENTE YANEZ PINZON.— (i4 99 .) 



Among the maritime adventurers of renown who 
were roused to action by the licenses granted for 
private expeditions of discovery, we find conspi- 
cuous the name of Vicente Yanez Pinzonof Palos, 
one of the three brave brothers who aided Colum- 
bus in his first voyage, and risked life and fortune 
with him in his doubtful and perilous enterprise. 
Of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the eldest and most 
important of these three brothers, particular men- 
tion has been made in the History of Columbus, 
and of the unfortunate error in conduct which 
severed him from the admiral, brought on him 
the displeasure of the sovereigns, and probably 
contributed to his premature and melancholy 
death. 

Whatever cloud of disgrace may have over- 
shadowed his family, it was but temporary. The 
death of Martin Alonzo, as usual, atoned for his 
faults, and his good deeds lived after him. The 
merits and services of himself and his brothers 
were acknowledged, and the survivors of the 
family were restored to royal confidence. A feeling 
of jealous hostility prevented them from taking a 
part in the subsequent voyages of Columbus ; but 
the moment the door was thrown open for indivi- 



28 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i499- 

dual enterprise, they pressed forward for'permis- 
sion to engage in it at their own risk and expense 
— and it was readily granted. In fact, their sup- 
posed hostility to Columhus was one of the surest 
recommendations they could have to the favour 
of the Bishop Fonseca, by whom the license was 
issued for their expedition. 

Vicente Yailez Pinzon was the leader of this 
new enterprise, and he was accompanied by two 
nephews, named Arias Perez and Diego Fernan- 
dez, sons of his late brother, Martin Alonzo Pin- 
zon. Several of his sailors had sailed with Colum- 
bus in his recent voyage to Paria, as had also his 
three principal pilots, Juan Quintero, Juan de 
Umbria, and Juan de Jerez. Thus these minor 
voyages seemed all to emanate from the great ex- 
peditions of Columbus, and to aim at realizing the 
ideas and speculations contained in the papers 
transmitted by him to Spain. 

The armament consisted of four caravels, and 
was fitted out at the port of Palos. The funds of 
Vicente Yanez were completely exhausted before 
he had fitted out his little squadron; he was 
obliged therefore to purchase on credit the sea 
stores and articles of traffic necessary for the en- 
terprise. The merchants of Palos seem to have 
known how to profit by the careless nature of 
sailors and the sanguine spirit of discoverers. In 
their bargains they charged honest Pinzon eighty 
and a hundred percent, above the market value of 
their merchandise, and in the hurry and urgency 



i 1o«J ] VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 29 

of the moment he was obliged to submit to the 
imposition. 1 

The squadron put to sea in the beginning of 
December, i499? anc ^ after passing the Canary and 
Cape de Verde Islands, stood to the south-west. 
Having sailed about seven hundred leagues, they 
crossed the equator and lost sight of the north 
star. They had scarcely passed the Equinoctial 
line when they encountered a terrible tempest, 
which had well nigh swallowed up their slender 
barks. The storm passed away, and the firma- 
ment was again serene; but the mariners remained 
tossin;; about in confusion, dismayed by the tur- 
bulence ol the waves and the strange aspect of the 
heavens. They looked in vain to the south for 
some polar star by which to shape their course, 
and fancied that some swelling prominence of 
the globe concealed it from their view. They 
knew nothing as yet of the firmament of that he- 
misphere, nor of that beautiful constellation the 
southern cross, but expected to find a guiding star 
at the opposite pole, similar to the cynosure of the 
north. 

Pinzori, however, who was of an intrepid spirit, 
pursued his course resolutely to the west, and 
after sailing about two hundred and forty leagues, 
and being in the eighth degree of southern lati- 
tude, he beheld land afar off on the 28th of Ja- 

1 Navarrcte, vol. iii. See Doc. No. 7, where Vicente Yaiiez 
Pinzon petitions for redress. 



3o SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1^99. 

nuary, to which he gave the name of Santa Maria 
de la Consolation, from the sight of it having con- 
soled him in the midst of doubts and perplexities- 
It is now called Cape St Augustine, and forms 
the most prominent part of the immense empire 
of Brazil. 

The sea was turbid and discoloured as in rivers, 
and on sounding they had sixteen fathoms' water. 
Pinzon landed accompanied by a notary and wit- 
nesses, and took formal possession of the territory 
for the Castilian crown; no one appeared to dis- 
pute his pretensions, but he observed on the beach 
the p rint of footsteps, which seemed of gigantic 
size. 

At night there were fires lighted upon a neigh- 
bouring part of the coast, which induced Pinzon 
on the following morning to send forty men well 
armed to the spot. A band of Indians, of about 
equal number, sallied forth to encounter them, 
armed with bows and arrows, and seemingly of 
extraordinary stature. A still greater number 
were seen in the distance, hastening to the support 
of their companions. The Indians arrayed them- 
selves for combat, and the two parties remained 
for a short time eyeing each other with mutual 
curiosity and distrust. The Spaniards now dis- 
played looking-glasses , beads, and other trinkets, 
and jingled strings of hawks' bells, in general so 
captivating to an Indian ear; but the haughty 
savages treated all their overtures with contempt, 
regarding these offerings carelessly for a short 



i499-] VICENTE YAiNEZ P1NZ0N. 3 1 

time, and then stalking off with stoic gravity. 
They were ferocious of feature, and apparently 
warlike in disposition, and are supposed to have 
been a wandering race of unusual size, whoroamed 
about in the night, and were of the most fierce un- 
tractable nature. By nightfall there was not an 
Indian to be seen in the neighbourhood. 

Discouraged by the inhospitable character of 
the coast, Pinzon made sail and stood to the north- 
west, until he came to the mouth of a river too 
shallow to receive his ships. Here he sent his 
boats on shore with a number of men well armed. 
They landed on the river banks, and beheld a 
multitude of naked Indians on a neighbouring hill. 
A single Spaniard, armed simply with sword and 
buckler, Avas sent to invite them to friendly inter- 
course. He approached themAvith sig«s of amity, 
and threw to them a hawk's bell. They replied to 
him with similar signs, and threw to him a small 
gilded Avand. The soldier stooped to pick it up, 
Avhen suddenly^ troop of savages rushed down to 
seize him; he threw himself immediately upon the 
defensive, with sword and target, and though but 
a small man, and far from robust, he handled his 
weapons with such dexterity and fierceness, that 
he kept the savages at bay, making a clear circle 
round him, and Avounding several Avho attempted 
to break it. His unlooked-for prowess surprised 
and confounded his assailants, and gave time for 
his comrades to come to his assistance. The In- 
dians then made a general assault, with such a 



32 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i4gg. 

galling discharge of darts and arrows that almost 
immediately eight or ten Spaniards were slain, and 
many more wounded. The latter were compelled 
to retreat to their boats, disputing every inch of 
ground. The Indians pursued them even into the 
water, surrounding the boats and seizing hold of 
the oars. The Spaniards made a desperate de- 
fence, thrusting many through with their lances, 
and cutting down and ripping up others with their 
swords; but such was the ferocity of the survivors, 
that they persisted in their attack until they over- 
powered the crew of one of the boats, and bore it 
off in triumph. With this they retired from the 
combat, and the Spaniards returned defeated and 
disheartened to their ships, having met with the 
roughest reception that the Europeans had yet ex- 
perienced in the New World. 

Pinzon now stood forty leagues to the north- 
west, until he arrived in the neighbourhood of the 
Equinoctial line. Here he found the water of the 
sea so fresh that he was enabled to replenish his 
casks with it. Astonished at so singular a pheno- 
menon he stood in for the land, and arrived among 
a number of fresh and verdant islands, inhabited 
by a gentle and hospitable race of people, gaily 
painted, who came off to the ships with the most 
frank and fearless confidence. Pinzon soon found 
that these islands lay in the mouth of an immense 
river, more than thirty leagues in breadth, the 
water of which entered upwards of forty leagues 
into the sea before losing its sweetness. It was, 



•499] VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 33 

in fact, the renowned Marafton, since known as 
the < Mvllana and the Amazon. Whilelying in the 
mouth of this river there was a sudden swelling of 
the stream, which, being opposed by the current 
of the sea, and straitened by the narrow channels 
of the islands, rose more than five fathoms, with 
mountain waves, and a tremendous noise threat- 
ening the destruction of the ships. Pinzon extri- 
cated Lis little squadron with great difficulty from 
this perilous situation, and finding there was hut 
little gold, or any thing else of value to be found 
among the simple natives, he requited their hospi- 
talitv, in the mode too common among the early 
discoverers, by carrying off thirty-six of them cap- 
tive. 

Flavin;; regained the sight of the Polar Star, 
Pinzon pursued his course along the coast, passing 
the mouths of the Oronoko, and entering the Gulf 
of Paria, where he landed and cut Brasil-wood. 
Sallying forth by the Boca del Drago, he reached 
the island of Hispaniola about the a3d of June, 
from whence he sailed for the Bahamas. Here, in 
the month of July, while at anchor, there came 
such a tremendous hurricane that two of the ca- 
ravels were swallowed up with all their crews in 
the sight of their terrified companions; a third 
parted her cables and was driven out to sea, while 
the fourth was so furiously beaten by the tempest 
that the crew threw themselves into the boats and 
made for shore. Here they found a few naked 
Indians, who offered them no molestation; but. 



34 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

fearing that they might spread the tidings of a 
handful of shipwrecked Spaniards heing upon the 
coast, and thus bring the savages of the neighbour- 
ing islands upon them, a council of war was held 
whether it would not be a wise precaution to 
put these Indians to death. Fortunately for the 
latter, the vessel which had been driven from her 
anchors returned and put an end to the alarm, and 
to the council of Avar. The other caravel also 
rode out the storm uninjured, and the sea subsid- 
ing, the Spaniards returned on board, and made 
the best of their way to the island of Hispaniola. 
Having repaired the damages sustained in the gale, 
they again made sail for Spain, and came to an- 
chor in the river before Palos, about the end of 
September. 

Thus ended one of the most chequered and 
disastrous voyages that had yet been made to the 
New World. Yafiez Pinzon had lost two of his 
ships, and many of his men; what made the loss 
of the latter more grievous was, that they had 
been enlisted from among his neighbours, his 
friends, and relatives. In fact, the expeditions to 
the New World must have realised the terrors 
and apprehensions of the people of Palos, by filling 
that little community with widows and orphans. 
When the rich merchants, who had sold goods to 
Pinzon at a hundred per cent, advance, beheld him 
return in this sorry condition, with two shattered 
barks and a handful of poor, tattered, weather- 
beaten seamen, they began to tremble for their 



i499-] VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 35 

money. No sooner, therefore, had he and his 
nephews departed to Granada, to give an account 
of their discoveries to the sovereigns, than the 
merchants seized upon their caravels and cargoes, 
and began to sell them, to repay themselves. 
Honest Pinzon immediately addressed a petition 
to the government, stating the imposition that had 
been practised upon him, and the danger he was 
in of imprisonment and utter ruin, should his cre- 
ditors be allowed to sacrifice his goods at a public 
sale. He petitioned that they might be compelled 
to return the property thus seized, and that he 
might be enabled to sell three hundred and fifty 
quintals of Brasil-wood, which he had brought 
back with him, and which would be sufficient to 
satisfy the demands of his creditors. The sove- 
reigns granted his prayer. They issued an order 
to the civil authorities of Palos to interfere in the 
matter with all possible promptness and brevity, 
allowing no vexatious delay, and administering 
justice so impartially that neither of the parties 
should have cause to complain. 

Pinzon escaped from the fangs of his creditors, 
but, of course, must have suffered in purse from the 
expenses of the law ; which, in Spain is apt to bury 
even a successful client, under an overwhelming 
mountain of documents and writings. We infer this 
in respect to Pinzon from a royal order issued in the 
following year, allowing him to export a quantity 
of grain, in consideration of the heavy losses he 
had sustained in his voyage of discovery. He did 



36 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1499. 

but share the usual lot of the Spanish discoverers, 
whose golden anticipations too frequently ended 
in penury; but he is distinguished from among the 
crowd of them by being the first European who 
crossed the Equinoctial line, on the western ocean, 
and by discovering the great kingdom of Brazil. 1 

1 On the 5th of September, i5oi,a Royal permission was given 
to Vicente Yafiez Pinzon to colonize and govern the lands he had 
discovered, beginning a little north of the river Amazon, and ex- 
tending to Cape St Augustine. The object of the government in 
this permission -was to establish an outpost and a resolute com- 
mander on this southern frontier, that should check any intrusions" 
the Portuguese might make in consequence of the accidental dis- 
covery of a part of the coast of Brazil by Pedro Alvarez Cabral, 
in 1000. The subsequent arrangement of a ^partition hne between 
the two countries prevented the necessity of this precaution, and 
it does not appear that Vicente Yaiiez Pinzon made any second 
voyage to those parts. 

In i5o6 he undertook an expedition in company with Juan 
Diaz de Sob's, a native of Lebrija, the object of which was to en- 
deavour to find the strait or passage supposed by Columbus to 
lead from the Atlantic to a Southern Ocean. It was necessarily 
without success, as was also another voyage made by them, for 
the same purpose, in i5o8. As no such passage exists, no blame 
could attach to those able navigators for being foiled in the object 
of their search. 

In consequence of the distinguished merits and services of the 
Pinzon family they were raised, by the Emperor Charles V, to 
the dignity of a Hidalguia, or nobility, without any express title, 
and a coat of arms was granted them, on which were emblazoned 
three caravels, with a hand at the stern pointing to an island co- 
vered with savages. This coat of arms is still maintained by the 
family, who have added to it the motto granted to Columbus, 
merely substituting the name of Pinzon for that of the Admiral, 
A Castile y a Leon, 
Nuevo Mundo dio Pinzon. 



DIEGO DE LEPE 



RODRIGO DE BASTIDES.— (i5oo.) 



Notwithstanding the hardships and disasters that 
had beset the voyagers to the New World, and the 
penury in which their golden anticipations had too 
frequently terminated, adventurers continued to 
press forward, excited hy fresh reports of newly 
discovered regions, each of which, in its turn, was 
represented as the real land of promise. Scarcely 
had Vicente Yailez Pinzon departed on the voyage 
recently narrated, when his townsman Diego de 
Lepe likewise set sail with two vessels from the 
busy little port of Palos, on a like expedition. No 
particulars of importance are known of this voy- 
age, excepting that Lepe doubled Cape St Au- 
gustine, and beheld the southern continent stretch- 
ing far to the south-west. On returning to Spain 
he drew a chart of the coast for the Bishop Fon- 
seca, and enjoyed the reputation, for upwards of 
ten years afterwards, of having extended his disco- 
veries further south than any other voyager. 

Another contemporary adventurer to the New 
World was Rodrigo de Bastides, a wealthy notary 



38 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5oO. 

of Triana, the suburb of Seville inhabited by the 
maritime part of its population. Being- sanctioned 
by the sovereigns, to whom he engaged to yield 
a fourth of his profits, he fitted out two caravels 
in October, i5oo, to go in quest of gold and pearls. 

Prudently distrusting his own judgment in nau- 
tical matters, this adventurous notary associated 
with him the veteran pilot Juan de la Cosa, the 
same hardy Biscayan who had sailed with Colum- 
bus and Ojeda. A general outline of their voyage 
has already been given in the life of Columbus; 
it extended the discoveries of the coast of Terra 
Firma from Cape de la Vela, where Ojeda had left 
off, quite to the port of Nombre de Dios. 

Bastides distinguished himself from the mass of 
discoverers by his kind treatment of the natives, 
and Juan de la Cosa by his sound discretion and 
his able seamanship. Their voyage had been ex- 
tremely successful, and they had collected, by bar- 
ter, a great amount of gold and pearls, when their 
prosperous career was checked by an unlooked-for 
evil. Their vessels to their surprise became leaky 
in every part, and they discovered to their dis- 
may, that the bottoms were pierced in innumera- 
ble places by the broma, or worm, which abounds 
in the waters of the torrid zone, but of which they, 
as yet, had scai'cely any knowledge. It was with 
great difficulty they could keep afloat until they 
reached a small islet on the coast of Hispaniola, 
Here they repaired their ships as well as they 



DIEGO DE LEPE AND RODRIGO DE BASTIDES. 3g 
were able, and again put to sea to return to Cadiz. 
A succession of gales drove them back to port; 
the ravages of the worms continued, the leaks 
broke out afresh; they landed the most portable 
and precious part of their wealthy cargoes, and the 
vessels foundered with the remainder. Bastides 
lost, moreover, the arms and ammunition saved 
from the wreck, being obliged to destroy them lest 
they should fall into the hands of the Indians. 

Distributing his men into three bands, two of 
them headed by La Cosa and himself, they set 
off for San Domingo by three several routes, as 
the country was not able to furnish provisions for 
so large a body. Each band was provided with a 
coffer stored with trinkets and other articles of 
Indian traffic, with which to buy provisions on 
the road. 

Francisco de Bobadilla, the wrong-headed op- 
pressor and superseder of Columbus, was at that 
time Governor of San Domingo. The report 
reached him that a crew of adventurers had landed 
on the island, and were marching through the 
country in three bands, each provided with a cof- 
fer of gold, and carrying on illicit trade with the 
natives. The moment Bastides made his appear- 
ance, therefore, he was seized and thrown into pri- 
son, and an investigation commenced. In his de- 
fence he maintained that his only traffic with the 
natives was for the purpose of procuring provisions 
for his followers, or guides for his journey. It 



4o SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5oo. 

was determined, however, to send him to Spain 
for trial, with the written testimony and the other 
ducuments of his examination. 

He was accordingly conveyed in the same fleet 
in which Bobadilla embarked for Spain, and which 
experienced such an awful shipwreck in the sight 
of Columbus. The ship of Rodrigo Bastides was 
one of the few that outlived the tempest : it ar- 
rived safe at Cadiz in September, i5o2. Bastides 
was ultimately acquitted of the charges advanced 
against him, So lucrative had been his voyage, 
that, notwithstanding the losses sustained by the 
foundering of his vessels, he was enabled to pay 
a large sum to the crown as a fourth of his profits, 
and to retain a great amount for himself. In re- 
ward of his services and discoveries the sovereigns 
granted him an annual revenue for life, to arise 
from the proceeds of the province of Uraba, which 
he had discovered. An equal pension was like- 
wise assigned to the hardy Juan de la Cosa, to 
result from the same territory, of which he was 
appointed Alguazil Mayor. 1 Such was the eco- 
nomical generosity of King Ferdinand, who re- 
warded the past toils of his adventurous disco- 
verers out of the expected produce of their future 
labours. 

1 Navarrete, Collec. t. iii. 



SECOND VOYAGE 



ALONZO DE OJEDA.— (i5o2.) 



The first voyage of Alonzo de Ojeda to the coast 
of Paria, and its meagre termination in June, i5oo, 
has been related. He gained nothing in wealth 
by that expedition, but he added to his celebrity 
as a bold and skilful adventurer. His youthful 
fire, his sanguine and swelling spirit, and the 
wonderful stories that were told of his activity and 
prowess, made him extremely popular, so that his 
patron the Bishop Fonseca found it an easy matter 
to secure for him the royal favour. In considera- 
tion of his past services and of others expected 
from him, a grant was made to him of six leagues 
of land on the southern part of Hispaniola, and the 
government of the province of Coquibacoawhichhe 
had discovered. He was, furthermore, authorised 
to fit out any number of ships, not exceeding ten, 
at his own expense, and to prosecute the discovery 
of the coast of Terra Firma. He was not to touch 
or traffic on the pearl coast of Paria; extending as 
far as a bay in the vicinity of the island of Margarita. 
Beyond this he had a right to trade in all kinds of 



42 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o2. 

merchandize, "whether of pearls, jewels, metals, or 
precious stones; paying one fifth of the profits to 
the crown, and abstaining from making slaves of 
the Indians without a special license from the sove- 
reigns. He was to colonize Coquibacoa, and, as a 
recompense, was to enjoy one half of the proceeds 
of his territory, provided the half did not exceed 
3oo,ooo maravedies : all beyond that amount was 
to go to the crown. 

A principal reason, however, for granting this 
government and those privileges to Ojeda, was 
that, in his previous voyage, he had met with 
English adventurers on a Voyage of Discovery in 
the neighbourhood of Coquibacoa, at which the 
jealousy of the sovereigns had taken the alarm. 
They were anxious, therefore, to establish a reso- 
lute and fighting commanclerlike Ojeda upon this 
outpost, and they instructed him to set up the 
arms of Castile and Leon in everyplace he visited, 
as a signal of discovery and possession, and to put 
a stop to the intrusions of the English. 1 

With this commission in his pocket, and the go- 
vernment of an Indian territory in the perspective, 
Ojeda soon found associates to aid him in fitting 
out an armament. These were Juan de Vergara, 
a servant of a rich canon of the cathedral of Se- 
ville, and Garcia de Campos, commonly called 
Ocampo. They made a contract of partnership to 
last for two years, according to which the expenses 
and profits of the expedition, and of the govern- 

1 Navarrete, t. iii. document x. 



l5©2.] ALONZO DE OJEDA-SECOND VOYAGE. 43 

raent of Coquibacoa, were to be shared equally be- 
tween them. The purses of the confederates were 
not a») pie enough to afford ten ships, but they 
fitted out four. ist,Tbe Santa Maria de la Antigua, 
commanded by Garcia del Campo; 2d, The Santa 
Maria de la Granada, commanded by Juan de 
Vergara ; 3d, The Caravel Magdalena, com- 
manded by Pedro de Ojeda, nephew to Alonzo ; 
and 4th, The caraval Santa Ana, commanded by 
Hernando de Guevara. The whole was under the 
command of Alonzo de Ojeda. The expedition 
set sail in i5o2, touched at the Canaries, accord- 
ing to custom, to take in provisions, and then 
proceeded westward for the shores of the New 
World. 

After traversing the Gulf of Pari a, and before 
reaching the island of Margarita, the caravel Santa 
Ana, commanded by Hernando de Guevara, was 
separated from them, and for several days the 
ships were mutually seeking each other in these 
silent and trackless seas. After they were all re- 
united they found their provisions growing scanty , 
thev landed therefore at a part of the coast called 
Cumana by the natives, but to which, from its 
beauty and fertility, Ojeda gave the name of Val- 
fermoso. While foraginghere for their immediate 
supplies, the idea occurred to Ojeda that he should 
want furniture and utensils of all kinds for his pro- 
posed colony, and that it would be better to pillage 
them from a country wherehe was a mere transient 
visitor, than to wrest them from his neighbours in 



44 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [l5o2. 

the territory where he was to set up his govern- 
ment. His companions were struck with the po- 
licy, if not the justice, of this idea, and they all set 
to work to carry it into execution. Dispersing 
themselves, therefore, in ambush in various direc- 
tions, they at a concerted signal rushed forth from 
their concealment, and set upon the natives. Ojeda 
had issued orders to do as little injury and damage 
as possible, and on no account to destroy the ha- 
bitations of the Indians. His' followers, however, 
in their great zeal, transcended his orders. Seven 
or eight Indians were killed and many wounded 
in the skirmish which took place, and a number 
of their cabins were wrapped in flames. A great 
quantity of hammocks, of cotton, and of utensils 
of various kinds, fell into the hands of the con- 
querors ; they also captured several female Indians, 
some of whom were ransomed with the kind of 
gold called guanin ; some were retained by Ver- 
gara- for himself and his friend Ocampo, others 
were distributed among the crews, the rest, pro- 
bably the old and ugly, were set at liberty. As to 
Ojeda, he reserved nothing for himself of the spoil 
excepting a single hammock. 

The ransom paid by the poor Indians for some 
of their effects and some of their women yielded 
the Spaniards a trifling quantity of gold, but they 
found the place destitute of provisions, and Ojeda 
was obliged to despatch Vergara in a caravel to the 
island of Jamaica to forage for supplies, with in- 



i502.j ALONZO DE OJEDA-SECOND VOYAGE. [£> 

structions to rejoin him at Maracaibo or Cape de 
la Vela. 

Ojeda at length arrived at Coquibacoa, at the 
port destined for his seat of government. He 
found the country, however, so poor and sterile, 
that he proceeded along the coast to a bay which 
he named Santa Cruz, but which is supposed to 
be the same at present called Bahia Honda, where 
he found a Spaniard who had been left in the pro- 
vince of Citarma by Bastides in his late voyage 
about thirteen months before, and had remained 
ever since among the Indians, so that he had ac- 
quired their language. 

Ojeda determined to form his settlement at this 
place; but the natives seemed disposed to defend 
their territory, for, the moment a party landed 
to procure water, they were assailed by a galling 
shower of arrows, and driven back to the ships. 
Upon this Ojeda landed with all his force, and 
struck such terror into the Indians, that they 
came forward with signs of amity, and brought a 
considerable quantity of gold as a peace-offering, 
which was graciously accepted. 

Ojeda, with the concurrence of his associates, 
now set to work to establish a settlement, cutting 
down trees, and commencing a fortress. They had 
scarce begun, when they were attacked by a neigh- 
bouring cacique, but Ojeda sallied forth upon him 
with such intrepidity and effect as not merely to 
defeat, but to drive him from the neighbourhood. 



46 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o2. 

He then proceeded quietly to finish his fortress, 
which was defended by lombards, and contained 
the magazine of provisions and the treasure 
amassed in the expedition. The provisions were 
dealt out twice a-day, under the inspection of pro- 
per officers ; the treasure, gained by barter, by 
ransom, or by plunder, was deposited in a strong 
box secured by two locks, one key being kept by 
the royal supervisor, the other by Ocampo. 

In the mean time provisions became scarce. The 
Indians never appeared in the neighbourhood of 
the fortress, except to barass it with repeated 
tboughineffectual assaults. Yergaradid notappear 
with the expected supplies from Jamaica, and a ca- 
ravel was despatched in search of him. The people, 
worn out with labour and privations of various 
kinds, and disgusted with the situation of the set- 
tlement, which was in a poor and unhealthy coun- 
try, grew discontented and factious. They began 
to fear that they should lose the means of departing, 
as tbeir vessels were in danger of being destroyed 
by the broma or worms. Ojeda led them forth 
repeatedly upon foraging parties about the ad- 
jacent country, and collected some provisions 
and booty in the Indian villages. The provision 
he deposited in the magazine, part of the spoils he 
divided among his followers, and the gold he 
locked up in the strong box, the keys of which he 
took possession of, to the great displeasure of the 
supervisor and his associate Ocampo. The mur- 
murs of the people grew loud as their sufferings 



1502.] ALONZO DE OJEDA-SECOND VOYAGE. ^ 

increased. They insinuated that Ojeda had no 
authority over this part of the coast, having passed 
the boundaries of his government, and formed his 
settlement in the country discovered by Bastides. 
By the time Vergara arrived from Jamaica, the 
factions of this petty colony had risen to an alarm- 
ing height. Ocampo had a personal enmity to the 
governor, arising probably from some feud about 
the strong box ; being a particular friend of Vergara 
he held a private conference with him, and laid a 
plan to entrap the doughty Ojeda. In pursuance of 
this the latter was invited on board of the caravel 
of Vergara, to see the provisions he had brought 
from Jamaica ; but no soonerAvasheon board than 
they charged him with having transgressed the 
limits of his government, with having provoked 
the hostility of the Indians and needlessly sacrificed 
the lives of his followers, and above all with having 
taken possession of the strong box, in contempt of 
the authority of the royal supervisor, and with the 
intention of appropriating to himself all thegains of 
the enterprise ; they informed him therefore of their 
intention to convey him a prisoner to Hispaniola, 
to answer to the governor for his offences. Ojeda 
finding himself thus entrapped, proposed to Ver- 
gara and Ocampo that they should return to Spain 
with such of the crews as chose to accompany them, 
leaving him with the remainder to prosecute his 
enterprise. The two recreant partners at first con- 
sented, for they were disgusted with the enterprise 
which offered little profit and severe hardships. 



48 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o2. 

They agreed to leave Ojeda the smallest of the 
caravels with a third of the provisions and of their 
gains, and to huild a row-boat for him. They 
actually began to labour upon the boat. Before 
ten days had elapsed, however, they repented of 
the arrangement, the ship-carpenters were ill, there 
were no caulkers, and moreover they recollected 
that as Ojeda, according to their representations, 
was a defaulter to the crown, they would be liable 
as his sureties, should they return to Spain without 
him. They concluded, therefore, that the wisest 
plan was to give him nothing, but to carry him off 
prisoner. 

When Ojeda learned the determination of his 
wary partners, he attempted to make his escape 
and get off to St Domingo, but he was seized, 
thrown in irons, and conveyed on board of the 
caravel. The two partners then set sail from 
Santa Cruz, bearing off the whole community, its 
captive governor, and the litigated strong-box 

They put to sea about the beginning of Sep- 
tember, and arrived at the western part of the 
island of Hispaniola. While at anchor within a 
stone's throw of the land, Ojeda, confident in his 
strength and skill as a swimmer, let himself quietly 
slide down the side of the ship into the water 
during the night, and attempted to swim for the 
shore. His arms were free, but his feet were 
shackled, and the weight of his irons threatened 
to sink him. He was obliged to shout for help; a 
boat was sent from the vessel to his relief, and 



i502.] ALONZO DE OJEDA-SECOND VOYAGE. 4°/ 
the unfortunate governor was brought back hall 
drowned to his unrelenting partners. ! 

The latter now landed and delivered their pri- 
soner into the hands of Gallego, the commander of 
the place, to be put at the disposal of the governor 
of the island. In the mean time, the strong box, 
which appears to have been at the bottom of all 
these feuds, remained in the possession of Vergara 
and Ocampo, who, Ojeda says, took from it what- 
ever they thought proper, without regard to the 
royal dues, or the consent of the royal supervisor. 
They were all together, prisoner and accusers, in 
the city of San Domingo, about the end of Septem- 
ber, i5o2, when the chief judge of the island, after 
hearing both parties, gave a verdict against Ojeda 
that stripped him of all his effects, and brought 
him into debt to the crown for theroyal proportion 
of the profits of the voyage. Ojeda appealed to 
the sovereign, and, after some time, was honour- 
ably acquitted, by the royal council, from all the 
charges; and a mandate was issued in i5o3, order- 
ing a restitution of his property. It appears, how- 
ever, that the costs of justice, or rather of the law, 
consumed his share of the treasure of the strong 
box, and that a royal order was necessary to liberate 
him from the hands of the governor; so that like 
too many other litigants, he finally emerged from 
the lahyrinths of the law a triumphant client, but a 
ruined man. 



Hist. Gen. de Viages. Herrera, Hist. Ind. 

3 



THIRD VOYAGE 



ALONZO DE OJEDA.— (iSog.) 



CHAPTER I. 

OJEDA APPLIES FOR A COMMAND HAS A RIVAL 

CANDIDATE IN DIEGO DE NICUESA— HIS SUC- 
CESS. 

For several years after his ruinous, though suc- 
cessful lawsuit, we lose all traces of Alonzo de 
Ojeda, excepting that we are told he made ano- 
ther voyage to the vicinity of Coquibacoa, in 1 5o5. 
No record remains of this expedition, which 
seems to have been equally unprofitable with the 
preceding, for we find him, ini5o8,in the island of 
Hispaniola, as poor in purse, though as proud in 
spirit, as ever. In fact, however fortune might 
have favoured him, he had a heedless squandering 
disposition that would always have kept him poor. 
About this time the cupidity of King Ferdinand 
was greatly excited by the accounts which had 
been given by Columbus of the gold-mines of 
Veragua, in which the admiral fancied he had 
discovered the AureaChersonesus of the ancients, 



i509-] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 5 I 

from whence King Solomon procured the gold 
used in building the temple of Jerusalem. Sub- 
sequent voyagers had corroborated the opinion of 
Columbus as to the general riches of the coast of 
Terra l'irma; King Ferdinand resolved, therefore, 
to found regular colonies along that coast, and to 
place the whole under some capable commander. 
A project of the kind had been conceived by 
Columbus, when he discovered that region in the 
course of his last voyage, and the reader may re- 
member the disasters experienced by his brother 
Don Bartholomew and himself, in endeavouring to 
establish a colony on the hostile shores of Veragua. 
The admiral being dead, the person who should 
naturally have presented himself to the mind of 
the sovereign for this particular service was Don 
Bartholomew; but the wary and selfish monarch 
knew the Adelantado to be as lofty in his terms as 
his late brother, and preferred to accomplish his 
purposes by cheaper agents. He was unwilling, 
also, to increase the consequence of a family, 
whose vast, but just, claims were already a cause 
of repining to his sordid and jealous spirit. He 
looked round, therefore, among the crowd of ad- 
venturers, who had sprung up in the school of 
Columbus, for some individual who might be 
ready to serve him on more accommodating terms. 
Among those, considered by their friends as most 
fitted for this purpose, was Alonzo de Ojeda, for 
his roving voyages and daring exploits had made 
him famous among the voyagers; and it was 



52 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o9. 

thought that an application on his part would be 
attended with success, for he was known to pos- 
sess a staunch friend at court in the Bishop Fon- 
seca. Unfortunately he was too far distant to 
urge his suit to the bishop, and what was worse, he 
was destitute of money. At this juncture there 
happened to beat Hispaniola the veteran navigator 
and pilot Juan de la Cosa, who was a kind of 
Nestor in all nautical affairs. 1 The hardy Biscayan 
had sailed with Ojeda, and had conceived a great 
opinion of the courage and talents of the youthful 
adventurer. He had contrived, also, to fill his 
purse in the course of his cruising, and now, in the 
generous spirit of a sailor, offered to aid Ojeda 
with it in the prosecution of his wishes. 

His offer was gladly accepted; it was agreed 
that Juan de la Cosa should depart for Spain, to 
prornotethe appointment of Ojeda tothecommand 
of Terra Firma, and, in case of success, should fit 
out, with his own funds, the necessary armament. 

1 Peter Martyr gives the following weighty testimony to the 
knowledge and skill of this excellent seaman : — « Of the Spani- 
ards, as many as thought themselves to have any knowledge of 
what pertained to measure the land and sea, drew cardes (charts) 
on parchment as concerning these navigations. Of all others they 
most esteem them which Juan de la Cosa, the companion of Ojeda, 
and another pilot, called Andres Morales, had set forth, and this, 
as well for the great experience which hoth had (to whom these 
tracks were as well known as the chambers of their own houses), as 
also that they were thought to be cunninger in that part of cos- 
mography which teacheth the description and measuring of the 

sea.« 

P. Martyr, Decade ii. c. to. 



l5og.] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 53 
La Cosa departed on his embassy, he called on 
the Bishop Fonseca, who, as had been expected, 
entered warmly into the views of his favourite 
Ojeda, and recommended him to theamhitiousand 
bigot king, as a man well fitted to promote his em- 
pire in the wilderness, and to dispense the blessings 
of Christianity among the savages. 

The recommendation of the bishop was usually 
effectual in the affairs of the New World, and thc- 
opinion of the veteran de la Cosa had great weight 
even with the sovereign; but a rival candidate to 
Ojeda had presented himself, and one who had the 
advantage of higher connexions and greater pecu- 
niary means. This was Diego de Nicuesa, an ac- 
complished courtier of noble birth, who had filled 
the post of grand carver to Don Enrique Enriquez, 
uncle of the king. Nature, education, and habit 
seemed to have combined to form Nicuesa as a 
complete rival of Ojeda. Like him he was small 
of stature, but remarkable for symmetry and com- 
pactness of form, and for bodily strength and ac- 
tivity; like him he was master at all kinds of 
weapons, and skilled, not merely in feats of agility, 
but in those graceful and chivalrous exercises, 
which the Spanish cavaliers of those days had 
inherited from the Moors; being noted for his 
vigour and address in the jousts or tilting-matches 
after the Moresco fashion. Ojeda himself could 
not surpass him in feats of horsemanship, and 
particular mention is made of a favourite mare, 
which he could make caper and caracole in strict 



54 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

cadence to the sound of a viol; beside all this, 
he was versed in the legendary ballads or ro- 
mances of his country, and was renowned as a 
capital performer on the guitar ! Such were the 
qualifications of this candidate for a command in 
the wilderness, as enumerated by the reverend 
Bishop Las Casas. It is probable, however, that 
he had given evidence of qualities more adapted to 
the desired post; having already been out to His- 
paniola in the military train of the late Governor 
Ovando. 

Where merits were so singularly balanced as 
those of Ojeda and Nicuesa, it might have been 
difficult to decide ; King Ferdinand avoided the 
dilemma by favouring both of the candidates; not 
indeed by furnishing them with ships and money, 
but by granting patents and dignities which cost 
nothing, and might bring rich returns. He divided 
that part of the continent which lies along the 
Isthmus of Darien into two provinces, the boun- 
dary line running through the Gulf of Uraba. The 
eastern part, extending to Cape de la Vela, was 
called New Andalusia, and the government of it 
given to Ojeda. The other to the west, including 
Veragua, and reaching to Cape Gracias a Dios, 
was assigned to Nicuesa. The island of Jamaica 
was given to the two governors in common, as a 
place from whence to draw supplies of provisions. 
Each of the governors was to erect two fortresses 
in his district, and to enjoy for ten years the pro- 
fits of all the mines he should discover, paying to 



i5og.] ALONZO DEOJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. 55 
the crown one tenth part the first year, one ninth 
the second, one eighth the third, one seventh the 
forth, and one fifth part in each of the remaining 



years 



Juan de la Cosa, who had been indefatigable in 
promoting the suit of Ojeda, was appointed his 
lieutenant in the government, with the post of 
Alguazil Mayor of the province. He immediately 
freighted a ship and two brigantines, in which he 
embarked with about two hundred men. It was a 
slender armament, but the purseof the honest voy- 
ager was not very deep, and that of Ojeda was 
empty. Mcuesa, having ampler means, armed four 
large'vessels and two brigantines, furnished them 
with abundant munitions and supplies, bothforthe 
voyage and the projected colony, enlisted a much 
greater force, and set sail in gay and vaunting 
style, for the golden shores of Veragua, the Aurea 
Chersonesus of his imagination. 



CHAPTER II. 



FEUD BETWEEN THE RIVAL GOVERNORS, OJEDA 
AND NICDESA— A CHALLENGE.— (i 509.) 

The two rival armaments arrived at San Domingo 
about the same time. Nicuesa had experienced 
what was doubtless considered a pleasant little 
turn of fortune by the way. Touching at Santa 
Cruz, one of the Carribee islands, he had sue- 



56 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

ceeding in capturing a hundred of the natives, 
whom he had borne off in his ships to be sold as 
slaves at Hispaniola. This was deemed justifiable 
in those days, even by the most scrupulous divines, 
from the belief that the Garibs were all anthropo- 
phagi, or man-eaters : fortunately the opinion of 
mankind, in this more enlightened age, makes but 
little difference in atrocity between the cannibal 
and the kidnapper. 

Alonzo de Ojeda welcomed with joy the arrival 
of his nautical friend and future lieutenant in the 
government, the worthy Juan de la Cosa; still he 
could not but feel some mortification at the in- 
feriority of his armament to that of his rival 
Nicuesa, whose stately ships rode proudly at anchor 
in the harbour of San Domingo. He felt, too, that 
his means were inadequate to the establishment 
of his intended colony. Ojeda, however, was not 
long at a loss for pecuniary assistance. Like many 
free-spirited men, who are careless and squandering 
of their own purses, lie had a facility at commanding 
the purses of his neighbours. Among the motley 
population of San Domingo there was a lawyer of 
some abilities, the bachelor Martin Fernandez de 
Enciso, who had madetwo thousand castillanos by 
his pleading; 1 for it would appear that the spirit 
of litigation was one of the first fruits of civilized 
life transplanted to the New World, and flourished 
surprisingly among the Spanish colonists. 

Alonzo de Ojeda became acquainted with the 

' Equivalent to io,65o dollars of the present day. 



i5o9-] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. S'] 

Bachcl.-r, and finding him to be of a restless and 
speculative character, soon succeeded in inspiring 
him with a contempt for the dull but secure and 
profitable routine of his office in San Domingo, 
and imbuing him with his own passion for adven- 
r in . . Above all lie dazzled him with the offer to 
make him Alcalde Mayor, or chief judge of the 
provincial government he was about to establish 
in the wilderness. 

In an evil hour the aspiring Bachelor yielded 
to the temptation, and agreed to invest all bis 
money in the enterprise. It was agreed that Ojeda 
should depart with the armament which had ar- 
rived from Spain, while the Bachelor should [re- 
main at Hispaniola to beat up for recruits and 
provide supplies; with these he was to embark 
in a ship purchased by himself, and proceed to 
join his high-mettled friend at the seat of his in- 
tended colony. Two rival governors, so well 
matched as Ojeda and Nicuesa, and both possessed 
of swelling spirits, pent up in small but active 
bodies, could not remain long in a little place like 
San Domingo without some collision. The island 
of Jamaica, which had been assigned to them in 
common, furnished the first ground of contention; 
the province of Darien furnished another, each 
pretending to include it within the limits of his 
jurisdiction. Their disputes on these points ran 
so high that the whole place resounded with them. 
In talking, however, Nicuesa had the advantage; 
having been brought up in the court, he was more 



58 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

polished and ceremonious, had greater self-com- 
mand, and probably perplexed his rival governor 
in argument. Ojeda was no great casuist, but he 
was an excellent swordsman, and always ready to 
fight his way through any question of right or dig- 
nity which he could not clearly argue with the 
tongue; so he proposed to settle the dispute by 
single combat. Nicuesa, though equally brave, was 
more a man of the world, and saw the folly of such 
arbitrement. Secretly smiling at the heat of his 
antagonist, he proposed as a preliminary to the 
duel, and to furnish something worth fighting for, 
that each should deposit five thousand castillanos, 
to be the prize of the victor. This, as he foresaw, 
was a temporary check upon the fiery valour of 
his rival, who did not possess a pistole in his trea- 
sury ; but probably was too proud to confess it. 

It is not likely, however, that the impetuous 
spirit of Ojeda would long have remained in check, 
had not the discreet Juan de la Cosa interposed 
to calm it. It is interesting to notice the great 
ascendancy possessed by this veteran navigator 
over his fiery associate. Juan de la Cosa was a 
man whose strong natural good sense had been 
quickened by long and hard experience; whose 
courage was above all question, but tempered by 
time and trial. He seems to have been personally 
attached to Ojeda, as veterans, who have outlived 
the rash impulse of youthful valour, are apt to 
love the fiery quality in their younger associates. 
So long as he accompanied Ojeda in his enter- 



i5og.] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. bg 

prises, he stood by him as a Mentor in council, 
and a devoted partisan in danger. 

In the present instance the interference of this 
veteran of the seas had the most salutary effect : 
he prevented the impending duel of the rival go- 
vernors, and persuaded them to agree that the ri- 
ver Darien should be the boundary line between 
their respective jurisdictions. 

The dispute relative to Jamaica was settled by 
the Admiral, Don Diego Columbus himself. He 
had already felt aggrieved by the distribution of 
these governments by the king without his consent 
or even knowledge, being contrary to the privi- 
leges which he inherited from his father, the dis- 
coverer. It was in vain to contend, however, 
when the matter was beyond his reach and in- 
volved in technical disputes. But as to the island 
of Jamaica, it in a manner lay at his own door, 
and he could not brook its being made a matter 
of gift to these brawling governors. Without wait- 
ing the slow and uncertain course of making re- 
monstrances to the king, lie took the affair, as a 
matter of plain right, into his own hands, and or- 
dered a brave officer, Juan de Esquibel, the same 
who had subjugated the province of Higuey, to 
take possession of that island, with seventy men, 
and to hold it subject to his command. 

Ojeda did not hear of this arrangement until he 
was on the point of embarking to make sail. In 
the heat of the moment he loudly defied the power 
of the admiral, and swore that if he ever found 



60 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

Juan de Esquibel on the island of Jamaica, he 
would strike off his head. The populace present 
heard this menace, and had too thorough an idea 
of the fiery and daring character of Ojeda to doubt 
that he would carry it into effect. Notwithstand- 
ing his bravado, however, Juan de Esquibel pro- 
ceeded according to his orders to take possession 
of the island of Jamaica. 

The squadron of Nicuesa lingered for some 
time after the sailing of his rival. His courteous 
and engaging manners, aided by the rumour of 
great riches in the province of Veragua, where he 
intended to found his colony, had drawn numerous 
volunteers to his standard, insomuch that he had 
to purchase another ship to convev them. 

Nicuesa was more of the courtier and the ca- 
valier, than the man of business, and had no skill 
in managing his pecuniary affairs. He had ex- 
pended his funds with a free and lavish hand, and 
involved himself in debts which he had not the 
immediate means of paying. Many of his credi- 
tors knew that his expedition was regarded with 
an evil eye by the Admiral, Don Diego Colum- 
bus ; to gain favour with the latter, therefore, they 
threw all kinds of impediments in the way of 
Nicuesa. Never was an unfortunate gentleman 
more harassed and distracted by duns and de- 
mands, one plucking at his skirts as soon as the 
other was satisfied. He succeeded, however, in 
getting all his forces embarked. He had seven 
hundred men, well chosen and well armed, toge- 



i5og.] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. 6l 

ther with six horses. He chose Lope de Olano 
to be his captain-general, a seemingly impolitic 
appointment, as this Olano had been concerned 
with the notorious Roldan in his rebellion against 
Columbus. 

The squadron sailed out of the harbour and put 
to sea, excepting one ship, which, with anchor a- 
trip and sails unfurled, waited to receive Nicuesa, 
who was detained on shore until the last moment 
by the perplexities which had been artfully multi- 
plied around him. 

Just as he was on the point of stepping into his 
boat he was arrested by the harpies of the law, 
and carried before the Alcalde Mayor to answer a 
demand for five hundred ducats, which he was 
ordered to pay on the spot, or prepare to go to 
prison. 

This was a thunderstroke to the unfortunate ca- 
valier. In vain he represented his utter incapa- 
city to furnish such a sum at the moment; in 
vain he represented the ruin that would accrue to 
himself and the vast injury to the public service, 
should he be prevented from joining his expe- 
dition. The Alcalde Mayor was inflexible, and 
Nicuesa was reduced to despair. At this critical 
moment relief came from a most unexpected 
quarter. The heart of a public notary was melted 
by his distress ! He stepped forward in court and 
declared that rather than see so gallant a gentle- 
man reduced to extremity, he himself would pay 
down the money. Nicuesa gazed at him with 



62 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5oc). 

astonishment, and could scarce believe his senses, 
but when he saw him actually pay off the debt 
and found himself suddenly released from this 
dreadful embarrassment, he embraced his deliverer 
with tears of gratitude, and hastened with all speed 
to embark, lest some other legal spell should be 
laid upon his person. 



CHAPTER III. 



EXPLOITS AND DISASTERS OF OJEDA ON THE COAST 

OF CARTIIAGENA FATE OF THE VETERAN 

JUAN DE LA COS A. (iSof).) 

It was on the ioth of November, i5o(), that Alonzo 
de Ojeda set sail from San Domingo with two ships, 
two brigantines, and three hundred men. He took 
with him also twelve brood mares. Among the 
remarkable adventurers who embarked with him 
was Francisco Pizarro, who was afterwards re- 
nowned as the conqueror of Peru. 1 Hernando 

1 Francisco Pizarro was a native of Trusillo in Estremadura. 
He -was the illegitimate fruit of an amour between Gonsalvo Pi- 
zarro, a veteran captain of infantry, and a damsel in low life. His 
childhood was passed in grovelling occupations incident to the 
humble condition of his mother, and he is said to have been a 
swineherd. When he had sufficiently increased in years and sta- 
ture, he enlisted as a soldier. His first campaigns may have been 
against the Moors in the war of Granada. He certainly served in 
Italy under the banner of the Great Captain, Gonsalvo of Cordova. 
His roving spirit then induced him to join the bands of adven- 



l5og.] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. 63 

Cortez had likewise intended to sail in the expedi- 
tion, but was prevented by an inflammation in 
one of bis knees. 

The voyage was speedy and prosperous, and 
they arrived late in the autumn in the harbour of 
Carthagena. The veteran Juan de la Cosa was 
well acquainted with this place, having sailed as 
pilot with Rodrigo de Bastides, at the time he dis- 
covered it in i5oi. He warned Alonzo de Ojeda 
to be upon his guard, as the natives were a brave 
and warlike race of Carib origin, far different from 
the soft and gentle inhabitants of the islands. 
They wielded great swords of palm wood, de- 
fended themselves with osier targets, and dipped 
their arrows in a subtle poison. The women as 
well as the men mingled in battle, being expert in 
drawing the bow and throwing a species of lance 
called the azagay. The warning was well timed, 
for the Indians of these parts had been irritated 
by the misconduct of previous adventurers, and 
flew to arms on the first appearance of the ships. 

Juan de la Cosa now feared for the safety of the 
enterprise in which he had person, fortune, and of- 
ficial dignity at stake. He earnestly advised Ojeda 
to abandon this dangerous neighbourhood, and to 

turers to ihe New World. He was of ferocious courage, and, -when 
engaged in any enterprise, possessed an obstinate perseverance 
that was neither to be deterred by danger, weakened by fatigue 
and liardship, or checked by repeated disappointment. After 
having conquered the great kingdom of Peru, he was assassi- 
nated, at an advanced age, in 1 54 [ ? defending himself bravely to 
the last, 



64 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

commence a settlement in the Gulf of Uraba, where 
the people were less ferocious, and did not use 
poisoned weapons. Ojeda was too proud of spirit 
to alter his plans through fear of a naked foe. It 
is thought, too, that he had no objection to a skir- 
mish, being desirous of a pretext to make slaves 
to be sent to Hispaniola in discharge of the debts 
he had left unpaid. 1 He landed, therefore, with 
a considerable part of his force, and a number of 
friars, who had been sent out to convert the In- 
dians. His faithful lieutenant, being unable to 
keep him out of danger, stood by to second him. 

Ojeda advanced towards the savages, and or- 
dered the friars to read aloud a certain formula 
which had recently been digested by profound 
jurists and divines in Spain. It began in stately 
form. « I, Alonzo de Ojeda, servant of the most 
high and mighty sovereigns of Castile and Leon, 
conquerors of barbarous nations, their messenger 
and captain, do notify unto you and make you 
know, in the best way I can, that God our Lord, 
one and eternal, created the heaven and the earth, 
and one man and one woman, from whom you and 
we and all the people of the earth proceeded and 
are descendants, as well as all those who shall come 
hereafter." The formula then went on to declare 
the fundamental principles of the Catholic Faith ; 
the supreme poAver given to St Peter over the 
world and all the human race, and exercised by his 
representative the Pope; the donation made by a 

1 Las Casas. Hist. Iud. 1. ii. c. 57. MS. 



i509-] iLONZO DE OJEDA-THIHD VOYAGE. 65 
late pope of all this part of the world and all its 
inhabitants to the Catholic sovereigns of Castile; 
and the ready obedience which had already been 
paid by many of its lands and islands and people 
to the agents and representatives of those sove- 
reigns. It called upon those savages present, 
therefore, to do the same, to acknowledge the truth 
of the Christian doctrines, the supremacy of the 
Pope and the sovereignty of the Catholic King, 
but, in case of refusal, it denounced upon them all 
the horrors of war, the desolation of their dwell- 
ings, the seizure of their property, and the slavery 
of their wives and children. Such was the extra- 
ordinary document, which, from this time forward, 
was read by the Spanish discoverers to the won- 
dering savages of any newly-found country, as a 
prelude to sanctify the violence about to be in- 
flicted on them. 1 

When the friars had read this pious manifesto, 
Ojeda made signs of amity to the natives, and held 
up glittering presents. They had already suffered, 
however, from the cruelties of white men, and were 
not to be won by kindness. On the contrary they 
brandished their weapons, sounded their conchs, 
and prepared to make battle. 

Juan de la Cosa saw the rising choler of Ojeda, 
and knew his fiery impatience. He again intreated 
him to abandon these hostile shores, and reminded 
him of the venomous weapons of the enemy. It 

1 The reader will find the complete form of this curious mani- 
festo in the Appendix. 

3. 



66 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

was all in vain : Ojeda confided blindly in the 
protection of the Virgin. Putting- up, as usual, a 
short prayer to his patroness, he drew his weapon, 
braced his buckler, and charged furiously upon the 
savages. Juan de la Cosa followed as heartily as 
if the battle had been of his own seeking. The 
Indians were soon routed, a number killed, and 
several taken prisoners; on their persons were 
found plates of gold, but of an inferior quality. 
Flushed by this triumph, Ojeda took several of 
the prisoners as guides, and pursued the flying 
enemy four leagues into the interior. He was 
followed, as usual, by his faithful lieutenant, the 
veteran La Cosa, continually remonstrating against 
his useless temerity, but hardily seconding him in 
the most hare-brained perils. Having penetrated 
far into the forest, they came to a strong hold of 
the enemy, where a numerous force was ready to 
receive them, armed with clubs, lances, arrows and 
bucklers. Ojeda led his men to the charge with 
the old Castilian war-cry, « Santiago!" The 
savages soon took to flight. Eight of their 
bravest warriors threw thenselves into a cabin, 
and plied their bows and arrows so vigorously, 
that the Spaniards were kept at bay. Ojeda cried 
shame upon his followers to be daunted by eight 
naked men. Stung by this reproach, an old Cas- 
tilian soldier rushed through a shower of arrows 
and forced the door of the cabin, but received a 
shaft through the heart, and fell dead on the 
threshold. Ojeda, furious at the sight, ordered 



1509.] ALOXZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. G7 

fire to be set to the combustible edifice; in a mo- 
ment it was in a blaze, and the eight warriors 
perished in the flames. 

Seventj Indians were made captive and sent to 
the ships, and Ojeda, regardless of the remon- 
strances of' Juan de la Cosa, continued his rash 
pursuit of the fugitives through the forest. In the 
dusk of the evening they arrived at a village called 
Yurbaco; the inhabitants of which had fled to the 
mountains with their wives and children and prin- 
cipal effects. The Spaniards, imagining that the 
Indians were completely terrified and dispersed, 
now roved in quest of booty among the deserted 
houses, which stood distant from each other, buried 
among the trees. While they were thus scattered, 
troops of savages rushed forth, with furious yells, 
from all parts of the forest. The Spaniards en- 
deavonred to gather together and support each 
other, but every little party was surrounded by a 
host of foes. They fought with desperate bravery, 
but for once their valour and their iron armour 
were of no avail; they were overwhelmed by 
numbers,and sank beneath war-clubs and poisoned 
arrows. 

Ojeda on the first alarm collected a few soldiers 
and ensconced himself within a small enclosure, 
surrounded by palisades. Here he was closely 
besieged and galled by flights of arrows. He 
threw himself on his knees, covered himself with 
his buckler, and, being small and active, managed 
to protect himself from the deadly shower, but all 



68 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

his companions were slain by his side, some of 
them perishing in frightful agonies. At this fear- 
ful moment the veteran La Cosa, having heard of 
the peril of his commander, arrived, with a few 
followers, to his assistance. Stationing himself at 
the gate of the palisades, the brave Biscayan kept 
the savages at bay until most of his men were 
slain, and he himself was severely wounded. Just 
then Ojeda sprang forth like a tiger into the midst 
of the enemy, dealing his blows on every side. 
La Cosa would have seconded him, but was crip- 
pled by his wounds. He took refuge with the 
remnant of his men in an Indian cabin ; the straw 
roof of which he aided them to throw off, lest the 
enemy should set it on fire. Here he defended 
himself until all his comrades, but one, w^ere de- 
stroyed. The subtle poison of his wounds at 
length overpowered him, and he sank to the 
ground. Feeling death at hand, he called to his 
only surviving companion, « Brother,)) said he, 
« since God hath protected thee from harm, sally 
forth and fly, and if ever thou shouldst see Alonzo 
de Ojeda, tell him of my fate!" 

Thus fell the hardy Juan de la Cosa, faithful 
and devoted to the very last; nor can we refrain 
from pausing to pay a passing tribute to his me- 
mory. He was acknowledged by his contempo- 
raries to be one of the ablest of those gallant 
Spanish navigators who first explored the way to 
the New World. But it is by the honest and 
kindly qualities of his heart that his memory is 



1509.] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 69 

most endeared to us; it is, above all, by that 
loyalty in friendship displayed in this his last and 
fatal expedition. Warmed by his attachment for 
a more youthful and a hot-headed adventurer, we 
see this wary veteran of the seas forgetting his usual 
prudence and the lessons of his experience, and 
embarking heart and hand, purse and person, in 
the wild enterprises of his favourite. We behold 
him watching over him as a parent, remonstrat- 
ing with him as a counsellor, but fighting by him 
as a partisan; following him, without hesitation, 
into known and needless danger, to certain death 
itself, and showing no other solicitude in his dying 
moments, but to be remembered by his friend. 

The history of these Spanish discoveries abounds 
in noble and generous trails of character; but few 
have charmed us more than this instance of loyalty 
to the last gasp, in the death of the staunch Juan 
de la Cosa. The Spaniard who escaped to tell the 
story of his end was the only survivor of seventy 
that had followed Ojeda in this rash and head- 
long inroad. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ARRIVAL OF NICUESA — VENGEANCE TAKEN ON 
THE INDIANS. 

While these disastrous occurrences happened on 
shore, great alarm began to be felt on board of 



70 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

the ships. Days had elapsed since the party had 
adventured so rashly into the wilderness; yet 
nothing had been seen or heard of them, and 
the forest spread a mystery over their fate. 
Some of the Spaniards ventured a little distance 
into the woods, but were deterred by the distant 
shouts and yells of the savages, and the noise of 
their conchs and drums. Armed detachments 
then coasted the shore in boats, landing occa- 
sionally, climbing the rocks and promontories, 
firing signal-guns, and sounding trumpets. It was 
all in vain ; they heard nothing but the echoes of 
their own noises, or perhaps the wild whoop of an 
Indian from the bosom of the forest. At length, 
when they were about to give up the search in 
despair, they came to a great thicket of mangrove- 
trees on the margin of the sea. These trees grow 
within the water, but their roots rise, and are in- 
tertwined, above the surface. In this entangled 
and almost impervious grove, they caught a glimpse 
of a man in Spanish attire. They entered, and, to 
their astonishment, found it to be Alonzo de 
Ojeda. He was lying on the matted roots of the 
mangroves, his buckler on his shoulder, and his 
sword in his hand ; but so wasted with hunger 
and fatigue that he could not speak. They bore 
him to the firm land; made a fire on the shore to 
warm him, for he was chilled with the damp and 
cold of his hiding-place, and when he was a little 
revived they gave him food and wine. In this 



i509-] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 7 I 

way he gradually recovered strength to tell his 
doleful story. 1 

lie li.nl succeeded in cutting his way through 
the host of savages, and attaining the woody skirts 
of the mountains; but when he found himself 
alone, and that all his brave men had been cut 
oN, he was ready to yield up in despair. Bitterly 
did he reproach himself for having disregarded the 
advice of the veteran La Cosa, and deeply did he 
deplore the loss of that loyal follower, who had 
fallen a victim to his devotion. He scarce knew 
which way to bend his course, but continued on, 
in the darkness of the night and of the forest, 
until out of hearing of the yells of triumph ut- 
tered by the savages over the bodies of his men. 
When the day broke, he sought the rudest parts 
of the mountains, and hid himself until the night; 
then struggling forward among rocks, and preci- 
pices and matted forests, he made his way to the 
sea side, but was too much exhausted to reach the 

' The picture here given is so much like romance, that the au- 
thor quotes his authority at length. — <■ Llegaron adonde ha via, 
junto al agua de la mar, unos Manglares, que son arboles, que 
siempre nacen, i crecen i permanecen detitro del agua de la mar, 
con grandes raiccs, asidas, 'i enmaranadas unas con otras, i alii 
metido, i escondido hallaron a Alonso de Ojeda,con su espada en 
la mano, i la rodcla en las espaldas, i en ella sobre trecientas se- 
fiales de Qechazos. Estaba descaido de hamhre, que no podia 
echar de si la habla ; i si no fuera tan robusto, aunque chico de 
cuerpo, fuera muerto.» 

Las Casas, 1. ii. c. 58. MS. Herrera, Hist. Ind. d. j. 1. vii. 

c. XV. 



72 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5ot). 

ships. Indeed it was wonderful that one so small 
of frame should have been able to endure such 
great hardships; but he was of admirable strength 
and hardihood. His followers considered his es- 
cape from death as little less than miraculous, and 
he himself regarded it as another proof of the spe- 
cial protection of the Virgin; for, though he had, 
as usual, received no- wound, yet it is said his 
buckler bore the dints of upwards of three hun- 
dred arrows. 1 

While the Spaniards were yet on the shore, admi- 
nistering to the recovery of their commander, they 
beheld a squadron of ships standing towards the 
harbour of Carthagena, and soon perceived them 
to be the ships of Nicuesa. Ojeda was troubled 
in mind at the sight, recollecting his late intem- 
perate defiance of that cavalier; and, reflecting 
that, should he seek him in enmity, he was in no 
situation to maintain his challenge or defend him- 
self. He ordered his men, therefore, to return on 
board the ships and leave him alone on the shore, 
and not to reveal the place of his retreat while Ni- 
cuesa should remain in the harbour. 

As the squadron entered the harbour, the boats 
sallied forth to meet it. The first inquiry of Ni- 
cuesa was concerning Ojeda. The followers of 
the latter replied, mournfully, that their com- 
mander had gone on a warlike expedition into the 
country, but days had elapsed without his return, 

' Las Casas, lib. ii. c. 58. MS. Herrera, Hist. Ind. decad. 1. I. 
vii. c. xv. 



so that they feared some misfortune had befallen 
him. They intreated Nicuesa, therefore, to give 
his word, as a cavalier, that should Ojeda really 
he in distress, he would not take advantage of 
his misfortunes to revenge himself for their late 
disputes. 

Nicuesa, who was a gentleman of noble and ge- 
nerous spirit, blushed with indignation at such a 
request. « Seek your commander instantly ; » said 
he, «bring him to me if he be alive; and I pledge 
myself not merely to forget the past, but to aid 
him as if he were a brother.)) 1 

"When they met, Nicuesa received his late foe 
with open arms. « It is not,» said he, « for Hidal- 
gos, like men of vulgar souls, to remember past dif- 
ferences when they behold one another in distress. 
Henceforth, let all that has occurred between us 
be forgotten. Command me as a brother. Myself 
and my men are at your orders, to follow you 
wherever you please, until the deaths of Juan de 
la Cosa and his comrades are revenged.)) 

The spirits of Ojeda were once more lifted up 
by this gallant and generous offer. The two go- 
vernors, no longer rivals, landed four hundred of 
their men and several horses, and set off with all 
speed for the fatal village. They approached it 
in the night, and, dividing their forces into two 
parties, gave orders that not an Indian should be 
taken alive. 

The village was buried in deep sleep, but the 

1 Las Casas, ubi sup. 



74 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o9- 

woods were filled with large parrots, which, being 
awakened, made a prodigious clamour. The In- 
dians, however, thinking the Spaniards all de- 
stroyed, paid no attention to these noises. It was 
not until their houses were assailed, and wrapped 
in flames, that they took the alarm. They rushed 
forth, some with arms, some weaponless, but were 
received at their doors by the exasperated Spa- 
niards, and either slain on the spot, or driven back 
into the fire. Women fled wildly forth with chil- 
dren in their arms, but at sight of the Spaniards 
glittering in ste*el, and of the horses, which they 
supposed ravenous monsters, they ran back, 
shrieking with horror, into their burning habita- 
tions. Great was the carnage, for no quarter was 
shown to age or sex. Many perished by the fire, 
and many by the sword. 

When they had fully glutted their vengeance, 
the Spaniards ranged about for booty. While 
thus employed, they found the body of the unfor- 
tunate Juan de la Cosa. It was tied to a tree, 
but swoln and discoloured in a hideous manner 
by the poison of the a rows with which he had 
been slain. This dismal spectacle had such an ef- 
fect upon the common men, that not one would 
remain in that place during the night. Having 
sacked the village, therefore, they left it a smok- 
ing ruin, and returned in triumph to their ships. 
The spoil in gold and other articles of value must 
have been great, for the share of Nicuesa and his 
men amounted to the value of seven thousand cas- 



i5og.] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 7 5 

tillano?. ' The two governors, now faithful con- 
federates, parted with many expressions of friend- 
ship, and with mutual admiration of each other's 
prowess; and Nicuesa continued his voyage for 
the coast of Veragua. 



CHAPTER V. 

OJEDA FOUNDS THE COLONY OF SAN SEBASTIAN 

BELEAGUERED BY THE INDIANS. 

Ojeda now adopted, though tardily, the advice of 
his unfortunate lieutenant, Juan de la Cosa, and, 
giving np all thoughts of colonising this disas- 
trous part of the coast, steered his course for the 
Gulf of Uraha. He sought for some time the 
river Darien, famed among the Indians as abound- 
ing in gold, but not finding it, landed in various 
places, seeking a favourable site for his intended 
colony. His people were disheartened by the dis- 
asters they had already undergone, and the ap- 
pearance of surrounding objects was not calcu- 
lated to reassure them. The country, though 
fertile and covered with rich and beautiful vegeta- 
tion, was in their eyes a land of cannibals and 
monsters. They began to dread the strength as 
well as fierceness of the savages, who could trans- 
fix a man with their arrows even when covered 
with armour, and whose shafts Avere tipped with 

1 Equivalent to 37,281 dollars of the present <!ay. 



>]6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [iSog. 

deadly poison. They heard the howlings of tigers, 
panthers, and, as they thought, lions in the forests, 
and encountered large and venomous serpents 
among the rocks and thickets. As they were pass- 
ing along the banks of a river, one of their horses 
was seized by the leg by an enormous alligator, 
and dragged beneath the waves. ' 

At length Ojeda fixed upon a place for his town, 
on a height at the east side of the Gulf. Here, 
landing all that could be spared from the ships, 
he began, with all diligence, to erect houses, giv- 
ing this embryo capital of his province the name 
of San Sebastian, in honour of that sainted martyr, 
who was slain by arrows; hoping he might pro- 
tect the inhabitants from the empoisoned shafts of 
the savages. As a further protection he erected a 
large wooden fortress, and surrounded the place 
withastoccade. Feeling, however, the inadequacy 
of his handful of men to contend with the hostile 
tribes around him, he despatched a ship to Hispa- 
niola, with a letter to the Bachelor, Martin Fer- 
nandez de Enciso, his Alcalde Mayor, informing 
him of his having established his seat of govern- 
ment, and urging him to lose no time in joining 
him with all the recruits, arms and provisions he 
could command. By the same ship he transmitted 
to San Domingo all the captives and gold he had 
collected. 

His capital being placed in a posture of defence, 
Ojeda now thought of making a progress through 

1 Hen-era, Hist. Intl. d. 1, 1. vii. c. xvi. 



loog) ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 77 

his wild territory; and set out, accordingly, with 
an armed band, to pay a friendly visit to a neigh- 
bouring cacique, reputed as possessing great trea- 
sures of gold. The natives, however, had by this 
time learnt the nature of these friendly visits, and 
were prepared to resist them. Scarcely bad the 
Spaniards entered into the defiles of the sur- 
rounding forest, when they were assailed by flights 
of arrows from the close coverts of the thickets. 
Some were shot dead on the spot, others, less 
fortunate, expired raving with the torments of 
the poison ; the survivors, filled with horror at 
the sight, and losing all presence of mind, re- 
treated in confusion to the fortress. 

It was some time before Ojeda could again per- 
suade his men to take the field, so great was their 
dread of the poisoned weapons of the Indians. 
At length their provisions began to fail, and they 
were compelled to forage among the villages in 
search, not of gold, but of food. 

In one of their expeditions they were surprised 
by an ambuscado of savages, in a gorge of the 
mountains, and attacked with such fury and effect, 
that they were completely routed, and pursued 
with yells and liowlings to the very gates of St 
Sebastian. Many died, in excruciating agony, of 
their wounds, and others recovered with extreme 
difficulty. Those who were well, nqjonger dared 
to venture forth in search of food ; for the whole 
forest teemed with lurking foes. They devoured 
such herbs and roots as they could find, without 



78 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

regard to their quality. The humours of their 
bodies became corrupted, and various diseases, 
combined with the ravages of famine, daily thinned 
their numbers. The sentinel who feebly mounted 
guard at night, was often found dead at his post 
in the morning. Some stretched themselves on 
the ground and expired of mere famine and debi- 
lity; nor was death any longer regarded as an 
evil, but rather as a welcome relief from a life of 
horror and despair. 



CHAPTER VI. 



ALONZO DE OJEDA SUPPOSED BY THE SAVAGES TO 
HAVE A CHARMED LIFE—THEIR EXPERIMENT 
TO TRY THE FACT. 

In the mean time the Indians continued to harass 
the garrison, lying in wait to surprise the forag- 
ing parties, cutting off all stragglers, and some- 
times approaching the walls in open defiance. On 
such occasions Ojeda sallied forth at the head of 
his men, and from his great agility was the first to 
overtake the retreating foe. He slew more of 
their warriors with his singlearm than all his fol- 
lowers together. Though often exposed to showers 
of arrows none had ever wounded him, and the 
Indians began to think he had a charmed life. 
Perhaps they had heard from fugitive prisoners, 



i5og.] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. -<) 

the idea entertained by himself and his followers, 
of his being under supernatural protection. De- 
termined to ascertain the fact, they placed four of 
their most dexterous archers in ambush with or- 
ders to single him out. A number of them ad- 
vanced towards the fort sounding their conchs and 
drums, and uttering yells of defiance. As they 
expected, the impetuous Ojeda sallied forth imme- 
diately at the head of his men. The Indians fled 
towards the amhuscado, drawing him in furious 
pursuit. The archers waited untill he was full in 
front, and then launched their deadly shafts. Three 
struck his buckler and glanced harmlessly off, but 
the fourth pierced his thigh. Satisfied that he was 
wounded beyond the possibility of cure, the sa- 
vages retreated with shouts of triumph. 

Ojeda was borne back to the fortress in great 
anguish of body and despondency of spirit. For 
the first time in his life he had lost blood in battle. 
The charm in which he had hitherto confided 
was broken; or rather, the Holy Virgin appeared 
to have withdrawn her protection. He had the 
horrible death of his followers before his eves, 
who had perished of their wounds in ravingfrenzy. 

One of the symptoms of the poison was to shoot 
a thrilling chill through the wounded part; from 
this circumstance, perhaps, a remedy suggested it- 
self to the imagination of Ojeda, which few but 
himself could have had the courage to undergo. 
He caused two plates of iron to be made red hot, 
and ordered a surgeon to apply them to each 



80 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

orifice of the wound. The surgeon shuddered and 
refused, saying he would not be the murderer of 
his general. 1 Upon this Ojeda made a solemn vow 
that he would hang him unless he obeyed. To 
avoid the gallows, the surgeon applied the glow- 
ing plates. Ojeda refused to he tied down, or that 
any one should hold him during this frightful 
operation. He endured it without shrinking or 
uttering a murmur, although it so inflamed his 
whole system, that they had to wrap him in sheets 
steeped in vinegar, to allay the burning heat which 
raged throughout his body; and we are assured 
that a barrel of vinegar was exhausted for the pur- 
pose. The desperate remedy succeeded ; the cold 
poison, says Bishop Las Casas, was consumed by 
the vivid fire. 1 How far the venerable historian 
is correct in his postulate surgeons may decide; 
but many incredulous persons will be apt to ac- 
count for the cure by surmising that the arrow 
was not envenomed. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ARRIVAL OF A STRANGE SHIP AT SAN SEBASTIAN. 

Alonzo de Ojeda, though pronounced out of dan- 
ger, was still disabled by his wound, and his help- 

' Charlevoix, ut sup. p. 2g3- 

2 Las Casas, Hist. Ind. lib. ii. c. 59. MS. 



i509-] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYACE. Si 

less situation completed the despair of his com- 
panions; for while he was in health and vigour, 
his buoyant and mercurial spirit, his active, rest- 
less and enterprising habits, imparted animation, 
if not confidence, to every one around him. The 
only hope of relief was from the sea, and that was 
nearly extinct, when one day, to the unspeakable 
joy of the Spaniards, a sail appeared on the hori- 
zon. It made for the port and dropped anchor at 
the foot of the height of San Sebastian, and there 
was no longer a doubt that it was the promised 
succour from San Domingo. 

The ship came indeed from the island of His- 
paniola, but it had not been fitted out by |the Ba- 
chelor Enciso. The commander's name was Ber- 
nardino de Talavera. This man was one of the 
loose heedless adventurers who abounded in San 
Domingo. His carelessness and extravagance had 
involved him in debt, and he was threatened with 
a prison. In the height of his difficulties the ship 
arrived which Ojeda had sent to San Domingo, 
freighted with slaves and gold, an earnest of the 
riches to be found at San Sebastian. Bernardo de 
Talavera immediately conceived the project of 
giving his creditors the slip, and escaping to this 
new settlement. He understood that Ojeda was 
in need of recruits, and felt assured, that from his 
own reckless conduct in money matters, he would 
sympathise with any one harassed by debt. He 
drew into his schemes a number of desperate 
debtors like himself, nor was he scrupulous about 



82 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

filling; up his ranks witli recruits whose legal em- 
barrassments arose from more criminal causes. 
Never did a more vagabond crew engage in a pro- 
ject of colonisation. 

How to provide themselves with a vessel was 
now the question. They had neither money nor 
credit ; but then they had cunning and cou- 
rage, and were troubled by no scruples of con- 
science ; thus qualified, a knave will often succeed 
better for a time than an honest man; it is in the 
long run that he fails, as will be illustrated in the 
case of Talavera and his hopeful associates. While 
casting about for means to escape to San Sebas- 
tian, they heard of a vessel belonging to certain 
Genoese, which was at Cape Tiburon, at the west- 
ern extremity of the island, taking in a cargo of 
bacon and cassava-bread for San Domingo. No- 
thing could have happened more opportunely : 
here was a ship amply stored with provisions, and 
ready to their hand ; they had nothing to do but 
seize it and embark. 

The gang, accordingly, seventy in number, 
made their way separately and secretly to Cape 
Tiburon, where, assembling at an appointed time 
and place, they boarded the vessel, overpowered 
the crew, weighed anchor, and set sail. They were 
heedless, hap-hazard mariners, and knew little of 
the management of a vessel; the historian Charle- 
voix thinks, therefore, that it was a special provi- 
dence which guided them to San Sebastian. Whe- 
ther or not the good father is right in his opinion, 



l5og] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. 83 

it is certain that the arrival of the ship rescued 
the garrison from the very brink of destruction. 1 

Talavera and his gang, though they had come 
lightly by their prize, were not disposed to part 
with it as frankly, hut demanded to he paid down 
in gold for the provisions furnished to the starving 
colonists. Ojeda agreed to their terms, and taking 
the supplies into his possession, dealt them out 
sparingly to his companions. Several of his hun- 
gry followers were dissatisfied with their portions, 
and even accused Ojeda of unfairness in reserving 
an undue share for himself. Perhaps there may 
have been some ground for this charge, arising, 
not from any selfishness inthe character of Ojeda, 
but from one of those superstitious fancies with 
which his mind was tinged ; for we are told that, 
for many years, he had been haunted by a pre- 
sent i men t that he should eventually die of hunger. 2 

This lurking horror of the mind may have made 
him depart from his usual free and lavish spirit 
in doling out these providential supplies, and may 
have induced him to set by an extra portion for 
himself, as a precaution against his anticipated 
fate ; certain it is, that great clamours arose among 
his people, some of whom threatened to return in 
the pirate-vessel to Hispaniola. He succeeded, 
however, in pacifying them for the present, by 
representing the necessity of husbanding their 
supplies, and by assuring them that the Bachelor 

' Hist. S. Domingo, lib. iv. 

' Herrera, decad. 1. 1. viii. c. 3. 



84 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o6. 

Enciso could not fail soon to arrive, when there 
would be provisions in abundance. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FACTIONS IN THE COLONY-A CONVENTION MADE. 

Days and days elapsed, but no relief arrived at 
San Sebastian. The Spaniards kept a ceaseless 
watch upon the sea, but the promised ship failed 
to appear. With all the husbandry of Ojeda the 
stock of provisions was nearly consumed ; famine 
again prevailed, and several of the garrison pe- 
rished through their various sufferings and their 
lackof sufficient nourishment. Thesurvivors now 
became factious in their misery, and a plot was 
formed among them to seize upon one of the ves- 
sels in the harbour and make sail for Hispaniola. 

Ojeda discovered their intentions, and was re- 
duced to great perplexity. He saw that to remain 
here without relief from abroad was certain de- 
struction, yet he clung to his desperate enterprise. 
It was his only chance for fortune or command ; 
for should this settlement be broken up, he might 
try in vain, with his exhausted means and broken 
credit, to obtain another post or to set on foot 
another expedition. Ruin in factwould overwhelm 
him, should he return without success. 

He exerted himself, therefore, to the utmost to 
pacify his men; representing the folly of aban- 



l5o9-] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 8^ 

doning a place where they had established a foot- 
hold, and where they only needed a a reinforce- 
ment to enable them to controul the surrounding 
country, and to make themselves masters of its 
riches. Finding they still demurred, he offered, 
now that he was sufficiently recovered from his 
wound, to go himself to San Domingo in quest of 
reinforcements and supplies. 

This offer had the desired effect. Such confi- 
dence had the people in the energy, ability, and 
influence of Ojeda, that they felt assured of relief 
should he seek it in person. They made a kind 
of convention with him, therefore, in which it was 
agreed that they should remain quietly at Sebas- 
tian's for the space of fifty days. At the end of 
this time, in case no tidings had been received 
of Ojeda, they were to be at liberty to abandon 
the settlement and return 'in the brigantines to 
Hispaniola. In the mean time Francisco Pizarro 
was to command the colony as lieutenant ofOjeda, 
until the arrival of his Alcalde Mayor, the Bachelor 
Enciso. This convention being made, Ojeda em- 
barked in the ship of Bernardino deTalavera. That 
cut-purse of the ocean and his loose-handed crew 
were effectually cured of their ambition to colonise. 
Disappointed in the hope of finding abundant 
wealth at San Sebastian, and dismayed at the 
perils and horrors of the surrounding wilderness, 
they preferred returning to Hispaniola, even at 
the risk of chains and dungeons. Doubtless they 
thought that the influence of Ojeda would be suffi- 



£6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

cient to obtain their pardon, especially as their 
timely succour had been the salvation of the 
colony. 



CHAPTER IX. 

DISASTROUS VOYAGE OF OJEDA IN THE PIRATE- 
SHIP. 

Ojeda had scarce put to sea in the ship of these free- 
booters, when a fierce quarrel arose between him 
and Talavera. Accustomed to take the lead among: 
his companions, still feeling himself governor, and 
naturally of a domineering spirit, Ojeda, on coming 
on board, had assumed the command as a matter 
of course. Talavera, who claimed dominion over 
the ship, by the right no doubt of trover and con- 
version, or, in other words, of downright piracy, 
resisted this usurpation. 

Ojeda, as usual, would speedily have settled the 
question by the sword, but he had the whole va- 
gabond crew against him, who overpowered him 
with numbers and threw him in irons. Still his 
swelling spirit was unsubdued. He reviled Tala- 
vera and his gang as recreants, traitors, pirates, 
and offered to fight the whole of them successively, 
provided they would give him a clear deck, and 
come on two at a time. Notwithstanding his 
diminutive size, they had too high an idea of his 
prowess, and had heard too much of his exploits, 



ljog-] ALOSZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 87 

to accept his challenge; so they kept him raging 
in his chains while they pursued their voyage. 

They had not proceeded far, however, when 
a violent storm arose. Talavera and his crew 
knew little of navigation, and were totally ignorant 
of those seas. The raging of the elements, the 
baffling winds and currents, and the danger of 
unknown rocks and shoals, filled them with con- 
fusion and alarm. They knew not whither they 
were driving before the storm or where to seek for 
shelter. In this hour of peril they called to mind 
that Ojeda was a sailor as well as soldier, and that 
he had repeatedly navigated these seas. Making 
a truce, therefore, for the common safety, they 
took off his irons, on condition that he would pilot 
the vessel during the remainder of the voyage. 

Ojeda acquitted himself with his accustomed 
spirit and intrepidity; but the vessel had been ai- 
re.-! dv swept so far to the westward that all his 
skill was ineffectual in endeavouring to work up 
to Hispaniola against storms and adverse cur- 
rents. Borne away by the gulf stream, and tempest- 
tost for many days, until the shattered vessel was 
almost in a foundering condition, he saAV no alter- 
native but to run it on shore on the southern coast 
of Cuba. 

Here then the crew of free-booters landed from 
their prize in more desperate plight than when 
they first took possession of it. They were on a 
wild and unfrequented coast, their vessel lay a 
wreck upon the sands, and their only chance was 



88 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

to travel on foot to the eastern extremity of the 
island, and seek some means of crossing to His- 
paniola, where, after all their toils, they might 
perhaps only arrive to he thrown into a dungeon. 
Such, however, is the yearning of civilized men 
after the haunts of cultivated society, that they set 
out, at every risk, upon their long and painful 
journey. 



CHAPTER X. 



TOILSOME MARCH OF OJEDA AND HIS COMPANIONS 
THROUGH THE MORASSES OF CURA. 

Notwithstanding the recent services of Ojeda, 
the crew of Talavera still regarded him with hos- 
tility; but, if they had felt the value of his skill 
and courage at sea, they were no less sensible of 
their importance on shore, and he soon acquired 
that ascendancy over them which belongs to a 
master-spirit in time of trouble. 

Cuba was as yet uncolonised. It was a place 
of refuge to the unhappy natives of Hayti, who 
fled hither from the whips and chains of their Eu- 
ropean task-masters. The forests abounded with 
these wretched fugitives, who often opposed them- 
selves to the shipwrecked party, supposing them 
to be sent by their late masters to drag them back 
to captivity. 



i5o;).] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIP.D VOYAGE. 89 

Ojed a easily repulsed these attacks; but found 
that these fugitives had likewise inspired the vil- 
lagers with bostility to all European strangers. 
Seeing" that his companions were too feeble and 
disheartened to tight their way through the popu- 
lous parts of the island, or to climb the rugged 
mountains of the interior, he avoided all towns 
and villages, and led them through the close fo- 
rests and broad green savannahs which extended 
between the mountains and the sea. 

He had only made a choice of evils. The fo- 
rests gradually retired from the coast. The sa- 
vannahs, where the Spaniards at first had to con- 
tend merely with long rank grass and creeping 
vines, soon ended in salt marshes, where the oozy 
bottom yielded no firm foot-hold, and the mud 
and water reached to their knees. Still they 
pressed forward, continually hoping in a little 
while to arrive at a firmer soil, and flattering them- 
selves they beheld fresh meadow land before 
them; but continually deceived. The farther they 
proceeded, the deeper grew the mire, until, after 
they had been eight days on this dismal journey, 
they found themselves in the centre of a vast mo- 
rass, where the water reached to their girdles. 
Though thus almost drowned, they were tormented 
with incessant thirst, for all the water around them 
was as briny as the ocean. They suffered too the 
cravings of extreme hunger, having but a scanty 
supply of cassava-bread and cheese, and a few po- 
tatoes and other roots, which they devoured raw. 

4- 



90 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5oc). 

When they wished to sleep, they had to climb 
among the twisted roots of mangrove-trees, which 
grew in clusters in the water. Still the dreary 
marsh widened and deepened. In many places 
they had to cross rivers and inlets: where some, 
who could not swim, were drowned, and others 
were smothered in the mire. 

Their situation became wild and desperate. 
Their cassava-bread was spoiled by the water, and 
their stock of roots nearly exhausted. The in- 
terminable morass still extended before them, 
while, to return, after the distance they had come, 
w r as hopeless. Ojecla alone kept up a resolute 
spirit, and cheered and urged them forward. lie 
had the little Flemish painting of the Madona, 
which had been given him by the Bishop Fonseca, 
carefully stored among the provisions in his knap- 
sack. Whenever he stopped to repose among the 
roots of the mangrove-trees, he took out this pic- 
ture, placed it among the branches, and kneeling, 
prayed devoutly to the Virgin for protection. This 
he did repeatedly in the course of the day, and 
prevailed upon his companions to follow his ex- 
ample. Nay, more, at a moment of great despon- 
dency, he made a solemn vow to his patroness 
that if she conducted him alive through this peril, 
he would erect a chapel in the first Indian village 
he should arrive at; and leave her picture there, 
to remain an object of adoration to the Gentiles. 1 

This frightful morass extended for the distance 

1 Las Casas, Hist. Ind. 1. ii. c. 6o. MS. 



i5og] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 'jf 

of thirty leagues, and was so deep and difficult, 
so entangled by roots and creeping vines, so cut 
up by crocks and rivers, and so beset by quag- 
mires, that they were thirty days in traversing it. 
Out of the number of seventy men that set out 
from the ship, but thirty-five remained. « Certain 
it is,» observes the venerable Las Casas, « the suf- 
ferings of the Spaniards in the New World, in 
search of wealth, have been more cruel and severe 
than ever nation in the world endured; but those 
experienced by Ojeda and his men have surpassed 
all others." 

Thev were at length so overcome by hunger 
and fatigue, that some lay down and yielded up 
the ghost, and others, seating themselves among 
the mangrove-trees, waited in despair for death 
to put an end to their miseries. Ojeda, with a 
few of the lightest and most vigorous, continued 
to struggle forward, and, to their unutterable joy, 
at length arrived to where the land was firm and 
dry. They soon descried a foot-path, and, follow- 
ing it, arrived at an Indian village, commanded by 
a cacique called Cueybas. No sooner did they 
reach the village, than they sank to the earth ex- 
hausted. 

The Indians gathered round and gazed at them 
with wonder; but when they learnt their story, 
they exhibited a humanity that would have done 
honour to the most professing Christians. They 
bore them to their dwellings, set meat and drink 
before them, and vied with each other in discharg- 



92 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5oc). 

ing the offices of the kindest humanity. Finding 
that a number of their companions were still in 
the morass, the cacique sent a large party of In- 
dians with provisions for their relief; with orders 
to bring on their shoulders such as were too feeble 
to walk, u The Indians, » says the Bishop Las 
Casas, ((did more than they were ordered; for 
so they always do, when they are not exasperated 
by ill treatment. The Spaniards were brought 
to the village, succoured, cherished, consoled, 
and almost worshipped as if they had been an- 
gels." 



CHAPTER XI. 

OJEDA PERFORMS HIS VOW TO THE VIRGIN. 

Beixg recovered from his sufferings, Alonzo de 
Ojeda prepared to perform his vow concerning 
the picture of the Virgin, though sorely must it 
have grieved him to part with a relique to which 
he attributed his deliverance from so many perils. 
He built a little hermitage or oratory in the vil- 
lage, and furnished it with an altar, above which he 
placed the picture. He then summoned the benevo- 
lent cacique, and explained to him, as well as his 
limited knowledge of the language, or the aid of 
interpreters would permit, the main points of the 
Catholic faith, and especially the history of the 
Virgin, whom he represented as the mother of the 



i5o9-] ALONZO DE OJEDA— THIRD VOYAGE. 0,3 

deity that reigned in the skies, and the great ad- 
vocate for mortal man. 

The worthy caci que listened to him with mute 
attention, and though lie might not clearly com- 
prehend the doctrine, yet lie conceived a pro- 
found veneration for the picture. The sentiment 
was shared by his subjects. They kept the little 
oratory always swept clean, and decorated it with 
cotton hangings, laboured by their own hands, 
and with various votive offerings. Thev com- 
posed couplets or arevtos in honour of the Virgin, 
which thev sang to the accompaniment of rude 
musical instruments, dancing to the sound under 
the groves which surrounded the hermitage. 

A further anecdote concerning this relique may 
not be unacceptable. The venerable Las Casas, 
who records these facts, informs us that he ar- 
rived at the village of Cueybas some time after the 
departure of Ojeda. He found the oratory pre- 
served with the most religious care, as a sacred 
place, and the picture of the Virgin regarded with 
fond adoration. The poor Indians crowded to 
attend mass, which he performed at the altar; 
they listened attentively to his paternal instruc- 
tions, and at his request brought their children to 
be baptised. The good Las Casas having heard 
much of this famous relique of Ojeda, was de- 
sirous of obtaining possession of it, and offered to 
give the cacique, in exchange, an image of the 
Virgin which he had brought with him. The chief- 
tain made an evasive answer, and seemed much 



94 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

troubled in mind. The next morning he did not 
make his appearance. 

Las Casas went to the oratory to perform mass, 
but found the altar stripped of its precious relique. 
On inquiring, he learnt that in the night the ca- 
cique had fled to the woods, bearing off with him 
his beloved picture of the Virgin. It was in vain 
that Las Casas sent messengers after him, assur- 
ing him that he should not be deprived of the 
relique, but, on the contrary, that the image should 
likewise be presented to him. The cacique re- 
fused to venture from the fastnesses of the forest, 
nor did he return to his village and replace the pic- 
ture in the oratory until after the departure of the 
Spaniards. 1 



CHAPTER XII. 



ARRIVAL OF OJEDA AT JAMAICA — HIS RECEPTION 
BY JUAN HE ESQUIBEL. 

When the Spaniards were completely restored to 
health and strength, they resumed their journey. 
The cacique sent a large body of his subjects to 
carry their provisions and knapsacks, and to guide 
them across a desert tract of country to the pro- 
vince of Macaca, where Christopher Columbus 

' Las Casas, Hist. Intl. c. 61, MS. — Herrera, Hist. Ind. d. 1. 1. 
1.1. c. i5. 



l509-] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. 96 

had been hospitably entertained on his voyage 
along- this coast. They experienced equal kind- 
ness from its cacique and his people, for such 
seems to have been almost invariably the case 
with the natives of these islands, before they 
had held much intercourse with Europeans. 

The province of Macaca was situated at Cape 
de la Cruz, the nearest point to the Island of Ja- 
maica. Here Ojeda learnt that there were Spa- 
niards settled on that island, being in fact the 
party commanded by the very Juan de Esquibel, 
whose head he had threatened to strike off, when 
departing in swelling style from San Domingo. 
It seemed to be the fortune of Ojeda to have his 
bravadoes visited on his head in times of trouble 
and humiliation. He found himself compelled to 
apply for succour to the very man he had so vain- 
gloriouslv menaced. This was no time, however, 
to stand on points of pride; he procured a canoe 
and Indians from the cacique of Macaca, and one 
Pedro de Ordas undertook the perilous voyage 
of twenty leagues in the frail bark, and arrived 
safe at Jamaica. 

No sooner did Esquibel receive the message of 
Ojeda, than, forgetting past menaces, he instantly 
despatched a caravel to bring to him the unfortu- 
nate discoverer and his companions. He received 
him with the utmost kindness, lodged him in his 
own house, and treated him in all things with the 
most delicate attention. He was a gentleman who 
had seen prosperous days, but had fallen into ad- 



96 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

versity and been buffeted about the world, and 
had learnt how to respect the feelings of a proud 
spirit in distress. Ojeda had the warm, touchy 
heart to feel such conduct; he remained several 
days with Esquibel in frank communion, and when 
he sailed for San Domingo they parted the best 
of friends. 

And here we cannot but remark, the singular 
difference in character and conduct of these Spa- 
nish adventurers when dealing with each other, 
or with the unhappy natives. Nothing could be 
more chivalrous, urbane, and charitable; nothing 
more pregnant with noble sacrifices of passion and 
interest, with magnanimous instances of forgive- 
ness of injuries and noble contests of generosity, 
than the transactions of the discoverers with each 
other; but the moment they turned to treat with 
the Indians, even with brave and high-minded 
caciques, they were vindictive, blood-thirsty, and 
implacable. The very Juan de Esquibel, who 
could requite the recent hostility of Ojeda with 
such humanity and friendship, was the same who, 
under the government of Ovando, laid desolate 
the province of Iliguey in Hispaniola, and in- 
flicted atrocious cruelties upon its inhabitants. 

When Alonzo de Ojeda set sail for San Domingo, 
Bernardino de Talavera and his rabble adherents 
remained at Jamaica. They feared to be brought 
to account for their piratical exploit in stealing the 
Genoese vessel, and that, in consequence of their 
recent violence to Ojeda, they would find in him 



l509-] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. 97 

an accuser rather than an advocate. The latter, 
however, in the opinion of Las Casas, who knew 
him well, was 001 a man to make accusations. 
Willi all his faults he did not harbour malice. He 
was quick and fiery, it is true, and his sword was 
too apt to leap from its scabbard on the least pro- 
vocation ; but after the first flash all was over, and, 
if he cooled upon an injury, he never sought for 
vengeance. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



ARRIVAL OF ALONZO DE OJEDA AT SAN DOMINGO 
CONCLLSION OF HIS STORY. 

Ox arriving at San Domingo, the first inquiry 
of Alonzo de Ojeda was after the Bachelor Enciso. 
He was told that he had departed long before, 
with abundant supplies for the colony, and that 
nothing had been heard of him since his departure. 
Ojeda waited for a time in hopes of hearing, by 
some return ship, of the safe arrival of the Ba- 
chelor at San Sebastian. No tidings, however, 
arrived, and he began to fear that he had been 
lost in those storms which had beset himself on 
his return voyage. 

Anxious for the relief of his settlement, and 
fearing, that, by delay, his whole scheme of colo- 
nisation would be defeated, he now endeavoured 
to set on foot another armament, and to enlist a 

5 



98 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [l509- 

new set of adventurers. His efforts, however, were 
all ineffectual. The disasters of his colony were 
known, and his own circumstances were consi- 
dered desperate. He was doomed to experience 
the fate that too often attends sanguine and bril- 
liant projectors. The world is dazzled by them 
for a time, and hails them as heroes while success- 
ful ; but misfortune dissipates the charm, and they 
become stigmatized with the appellation of ad- 
venturers. When Ojeda figured in San Domingo 
as the conqueror of Coanabo, as the commander 
of a squadron, as the governor of a province, his 
prowess and exploits were the theme of every 
tongue. When he set sail, in vaunting style, for 
his seat of government, setting the viceroy at de- 
fiance, and threatening the life ofEsquibel, every 
one thought that fortune Avas at his beck, and he 
was about to accomplish wonders. A few months 
had elapsed, and he walked the streets of San Do- 
mingo a needy man, shipwrecked in hope and 
fortune. His former friends, dreading some new 
demand upon their purses, looked coldly on him; 
his schemes, once so extolled, were now pro- 
nounced wild and chimerical, and he was subjected 
to all kinds of slights and humiliations in the very 
place which had been the scene of his greatest 
vain-glory. 

While Ojeda was thus lingering at San Domingo, 
the Admiral, Don Diego Columbus, sent a party 
of soldiers to Jamaica to arrest Talavera and his 
pirate crew. They were brought in chains to San 



i5og.] ALONZO DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. 99 

Domingo, thrown into dungeons, and tried for 
the robbery of the Genoese vessel. Their crime 
was too notorious to admit of doubt, and being 
convicted, Talavera and several of his principal 
accomplices were hanged. Such was the end of 
their frightful journey by sea and land. Never 
had vagabonds travelled farther or toiled harder 
to arrive at a gallows ! 

In the course of the trial Ojeda had naturally 
been summoned as a witness, and his testimony 
must have tended greatly to the conviction of the 
culprits. This drew upon him the vengeance of 
the surviving comrades of Talavera, who still 
lurked about San Domingo. As he was returning 
home one night at a late hour, he was way-laid 
and set upon by a number of these miscreants. 
He displayed his usual spirit. Setting his back 
against a wall, and drawing his sAvord, he de- 
fended himself admirably against the whole gang ; 
nor was he content with beating them off, but 
pursued them for some distance through the 
streets ; and having thus put them to utter rout, 
returned tranquil and unharmed to his lodgings. 

This is the last achievement recorded of the 
gallant but reckless Ojeda; for here his bustling 
career terminated, and he sank into the obscurity 
that gathers round a ruined man. His health was 
broken by the various hardships he had sus- 
tained, and by the lurking effects of the wound 
received at San Sebastian, which had been but im- 
perfectly cured. Poverty and neglect, and the 



100 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5oc). 

corroding' sickness of the heart, contributed, no 
less than the maladies of the body, to quench that 
sanguine and fiery temper, which had hitherto 
been the secret of his success, and to render him 
the mere wreck of his former self; for there is no 
ruin so hopeless and complete, as that of a tower- 
ing spirit humiliated and broken down. He ap- 
pears to have lingered some time at San Domingo. 
Gomara, in his history of the Indies, affirms that 
he turned monk, and entered in the convent at 
San Francisco, where he died. Such a change 
would not have been surprising in a man, who, in 
his wildest career, mingled the bigot with the sol- 
dier; nor was it unusual with military adventurers 
in those days, after passing their youth in the 
bustle and licentiousness of the camp, to end their 
days in the quiet and mortification of the cloister. 
Las Casas, however, who was at San Domingo at 
the time, makes no mention of the fact, as he cer- 
tainly would have done, had it taken place. He 
confirms, however, all that has been said of the 
striking reverse in his character and circum- 
stances ; and he adds an affecting picture of his last 
moments, which may serve as a wholesome com- 
ment on his life. He died so poor that he did not 
leave money enough to provide for his interment ; 
and so broken in spirit, that, with his last breath, 
he entreated his body might be buried in the mo- 
nastery of San Francisco, just at the portal, in 
humble expiation of his past pride, « that every one 
xvho entered might tread upon his grave. » r 

r Las Gas, ubi sup. 



.I...N/M DE OJEDA-THIRD VOYAGE. IOI 

Sucb was the fate of Alonzo de Ojeda,— and 
who does not forget his error? and his faults at the 
threshold ofhishumhle and untimely grave! He 
was one of the most fearless and aspiring of that 
band of "Ocean chivalry," that followed the foot- 
steps of Columbus. His story presents a lively 
i ,f the daring enterprises, the extravagant 
exploits, the thousand accidents, by flood and field, 
that chequered the life of a Spanish cavalier in 
that roving and romantic age. 

a Never," says Charlevoix, « was man more 
suited for a coup-de-main, or to achieve and suffer 
great things under the direction of another : none 
had a heart more lofty, or ambition more aspiring; 
none ever took less heed of fortune, or showed 
greater firmness of soul, or found more resources 
in his own courage ; but none was less calculated 
to be commander-in-chief of a great enterprise. 
Good management and good fortune for ever 
failed him." 1 

' Charlevoix, Hist. S. Doming. 



THE VOYAGE 



DIEGO DE NIGUESA. 



CHAPTER I. 

NICUESA SAILS TO THE WESTWARD HIS SHIP- 
WRECK AND SUBSEQUENT DISASTERS. 

We have now to recount the fortunes experienced 
by the gallant and generous Diego de Nicuesa, 
after his parting from Alonzo de Ojeda at Cartha- 
gena. On resuming his voyage, he embarked in a 
caravel, that he might be able to coast the land and 
reconnoitre ; he ordered that the two brigantines, 
one of which was commanded by his Lieutenant 
Lope de Olano, should keep near to him, while the 
large vessels, which drew more water, should stand 
further out to sea. The squadron arrived upon 
the coast of Veragua, in stormy weather; and, as 
Nicuesa could not find any safe harbour, and was 
apprehensive of rocks and shoals, he stood out to 
sea at the approach of night, supposing that Lope 
de Olano would follow him with the brigantines 
according to his orders. The night was boisterous, 
the caravel was much tossed and driven about, 



l5og.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 103 

and when the morning dawned, not one of the 
squadron was in si;;lit. 

Nil ih -i feared some accident had befallen the 
brigantines ; he stood for the land, and coasted 
along it in search of them until he came to a large 
river, into which he entered and came to anchor, 
lie had not been here long when the stream sud- 
denly subsided, having merely been swoln by the 
rains. Before he had time to extricate himself, 
the caravel grounded, and at length fell over on 
one side. The current rushing like a torrent, 
strained the feeble bark to such a degree, that her 
seams yawned and she appeared ready to go to 
pieces. In this moment of peril a hardy seaman 
threw himself into the water to carry the end of a 
rope on shore as a means of saving the crew. He 
was swept away by the furious current, and pe- 
rished in sight of his companions. Undismayed 
by his fate, another brave seaman plunged into 
the waves, and succeeded in reaching the shore. 
He then fastened one end of a rope firmly to a 
tree, and the other being secured on board of the 
caravel, Nicuesa and his crew passed one by one 
along it, and reached the shore in safety. 

Scarcely had they landed when the caravel went 
to pieces, and with it perished their provisions, 
< 1'iihing, and all other necessaries. Nothing re- 
mained to them but the boat of the caravel, which 
was accidentally cast on shore. Here then they 
were, in helpless plight, on a remote and savage 
coast, without food, without arms, and almost 



104 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og, 

naked. What had become of the rest of the squa- 
dron they knew not. Some feared that the bri- 
gantines had been wrecked ; others called to mind 
that Lope de Olano had been one of the loose law- 
less men confederated with Francisco Roldan in 
his rebellion against Columbus, and, judging him 
from the school in which he had served, hinted 
their apprehensions that he had deserted with the 
brigantines. Nicuesa partook of their suspicions, 
and was anxious and sad at heart. Fie concealed 
his uneasiness, however, and endeavoured to cheer 
up his companions, proposing that they should 
proceed westward on foot in search of Veragua, 
the seat of his intended government, observing 
that if the ships had survived the tempest, they 
would probably repair to that place. They ac- 
cordingly set off along the sea-shore, for the thick- 
ness of the forest prevented their traversing the 
interior. Four of the hardiest sailors put to sea 
in the boat and kept abreast of them, to help them 
across the bays and rivers. 

Their sufferings were extreme. Most of them 
were destitute of shoes, and many almost naked. 
They had to clamber over sharp and rugged rocks, 
and to struggle through dense forests beset with 
thorns and brambles. Often they had to wade 
across rank fens and morasses and drowned lands, 
or to traverse deep and rapid streams. 

Their food consisted of herbs and roots and shell- 
fish gathered along the shore. Had they even met 
with Indians, they would have dreaded, in their 



i5o-j.j WEGO DE NICUESA. IOJ 

unarmed state, to apply to them for provisions, 

lest tliev should take revenge for the outrages com- 
mitted along this coast hy other Europeans. 

To rendiei their sufferings more intolerable, they 
werc in doubt whether, in the storms which pre- 
ceded their shipwreck, they had not heen driven 
past Veragua, in which case each step would 
take them so much the farther from their desired 
haven. 

Still they laboured feebly forward, encouraged 
hy the words and the example of Nicuesa, who 
cheerfully partook of the toils and hardships of 
the meanest of his men. 

They had slept one night at the foot of impend- 
ing rocks, and were about to resume their weary 
march in the morning, when they were espied by 
some Indians from a neighbouring height. Among 
the followers of Nicuesa was a favourite" page, 
whose tattered finery and white hat caught the 
quick eyes of the savages. One of them immedi- 
ately singled him out, and taking a deadly aim, 
let fly an arrow that laid him expiring at the feet 
of his master. While the generous cavalier mourn- 
ed over his slaughtered page, consternation pre- 
vailed among his companions, each fearing for 
his own life. The Indians, however, did not fol- 
low up this casual act of hostility, but suffered the 
Spaniards to pursue their painful journey unmo- 
lested. 

Arriving one day at the point of a great bay that 
ran far inland, they were conveyed, a few at a 



106 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

time, in the boat, to what appeared to be the op- 
posite point. Being all landed, and resuming their 
march, they found to their surprise that they 
were on an island, separated from the main land 
by a great arm of the sea. The sailors who ma- 
naged the boat were too weary to take them to the 
opposite shore, they remained therefore all night 
upon the island. 

In the morning they prepared to depart, but, to 
their consternation, the boat with the four mariners 
had disappeared. They ran anxiously from point 
to point, uttering shouts and cries, in hopes the 
boat might be in some inlet; they clambered the 
rocks and strained their eyes over the sea. It was 
all in vain. No boat was to be seen : no voice 
responded to their call ; it was too evident the 
four mariners had either perished or had deserted 
them. 



CHAPTER II. 

N1CUESA AND HIS MEN ON A DESOLATE ISLAND. 

The situation of Nicuesa and his men was dreary and 
desperate in the extreme. They were on a deso- 
late island, bordering upon a swampy coast, in a 
remote and lonely sea, where commerce never 
spread a sail. Their companions in the other ships, 
if still alive and true to them, had doubtless given 
them up for lost ; and many years might elapse 



j509] DIEGO DE NUESICA. IO7 

before the casual bark of a discoverer might 
venture along these shores. Long before that 
time their fate would be sealed ; and their bones 
bleaching on the sands would alone tell their 
story. 

In this hopeless state many abandoned them- 
selves to frantic grief, wandering about the 
island, wringing their hands and uttering groans 
and lamentations ; others called upon God for 
succour, and many sat down in silent and sullen 
despair. 

The cravings of hunger and thirst at length 
roused them to exertion. They found no food 
but a few shell-fish scattered along the shore, and 
coarse herbs and roots, some of them of an un- 
wholesome quality. The island had neither springs 
nor streams of fresh water, and they were fain to 
slake their thirst at the brackish pools of the 
marshes. 

Nicuesa endeavoured to animate his men with 
new hopes. He employed them in constructing a 
raft of drift-wood and branches of trees, for the 
purpose of crossing the arm of the sea that sepa- 
rated them from the main land. It was a difficult 
task, for they were destitute of tools; and when 
the raft was finished they had no oars with which 
to manage it. Some of the most expert swimmers 
undertook to propel it, but they were too muchen- 
Feebled by their sufferings. On their first essay, 
flu rui rents which sweep that coast bore the raft 
out to sea, and they swam back with difficulty to 



108 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o$. 

the island. Having no other chance of escape, and 
no other means of exercising and keeping: up the 
spirits of his followers, Nicuesa repeatedly ordered 
new rafts to be constructed ; but the result was 
always the same, and the men at length either 
grew too feeble to work, or renounced the attempt 
in despair. 

Thus, day after day, and week after week elapsed, 
without any mitigation of suffering or any pro- 
spect of relief. Every day some one or other sank 
under his miseries, a victim, not so much to hunger 
and thirst, as to grief and despondency. His death 
was envied by his wretched survivors, many of 
whom were reduced to such debility, that they 
had to crawl on hands and knees in search of 
the herbs and shell-fish which formed their scanty 
food. 



CHAPTER III. 



ARRIVAL OF A BOAT — CONDUCT OF LOPE DE 
OLANO. 

When the unfortunate Spaniards, without hope of 
succour, began to consider death as a' desirable 
end to their miseries, they were roused to new life 
one day by beholding a sail gleaming on the hori- 
zon. Their exultation was checked, however, by 
the reflection how many chances there were against 
its approaching this wild and desolate island. 



i5(>9.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. IOQ 

Watching it with anxious eyes, theyput up prayers 
to GoJ to conduct it to their relief; and at length, 
to their greal joy, they perceived that it was steer- 
ing directly for the island. On a nearer approach 
ii pmved to be one of the brigantines that had 
been commanded by Lope de Olano. It came to 
anchor: a boat put off, and among the crew were 
the four sailors who had disappeared so mysteri- 
ously from the island. 

These men accounted* in a satisfactory manner 
for their desertion. They had been persuaded 
that the ships were in some harbour to the east- 
ward, and that they were daily leaving them far- 
ther behind. Disheartened at the constant, and, 
in their opinion, fruitless toil which fell to their 
share in the struggle westward, they resolved to 
take their own counsel, without risking the oppo- 
sition of Nicuesa. In the dead of the night, there- 
fore, when their companions on the island were 
asleep, they had silently cast off their boat, and 
retraced their course along the coast. After several 
days' toil they found the brigantines under the 
command of Lope de Olano, in the river of Belen, 
the scene of the disasters of Columbus in his fourth 
vovage. 

The conduct of Lope de Olano was regarded 
with suspicion by his contemporaries, and is still 
subject to doubt. He is supposed to have deserted 
Nicuesa designedly, intending to usurp the com- 
mand of the expedition. Men, however, were 
prone to judge harshly of him from his having 



I 10 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DSICOVERY. [1509. 

been concerned in the treason and rebellion of 
Francisco Roldan. On the stormy night when 
Nicuesa stood out to sea to avoid the dangers of 
the shore, Ola no took shelter under the lee of an 
island. Seeing nothing of the caravel of his com- 
mander in the morning, he made no effort to seek 
for it, but proceeded with the brigantines to the 
river of Ghagres, where he found the ships at 
anchor. They had landed all their cargo, being 
almost in a sinking condition from the ravages of 
the worms. Olano persuaded the crews that 
Nicuesa had perished in the late storm, and, being 
his lieutenant, he assumed the command. Whether 
he had been perfidious or not in his motives, his 
command was but a succession of disasters. He 
sailed from Chagres for the river of Belen, where 
the ships were found so damaged that they had to 
be broken to pieces. Most of the people con- 
structed wretched cabins on the shore, where, 
during a sudden storm, they were almost washed 
away by the swelling of the river, or swallowed up 
in the shifting sands. Several of his men were 
drowned in an expedition in quest of gold, and he 
himself merely escaped by superior swimming. 
Their provisions were exhausted, they suffered 
from hunger and from various maladies, and many 
perished in extreme misery. All were clamorous 
to abandon the coast, and Olano set about con- 
structing a caravel, out of the wreck of the ships, 
for the purpose, as he said, of returning to Ilispa- 
niola, though many suspected it was still his 



I0O9-] DIEGO DE HICDESA. I i i 

intention to persist in the enterprise. Such was 
the state in which the four seamen had found 
Olano and his party; most of them living in mi- 
serable cabins and destitute of the necessaries 
of life. 

The tidings that Nicuesa was still alive put an 
end to the sway of Olano. AVhether he had acted 
with truth or perfidy, he now manifested a zeal to 
relieve his commander, and immediately despatch- 
ed a brigantine in quest of him, which, guided by 
the four seamen, arrived at the island in the way 
that has been mentioned. 



CHAPTER IV. 

NICUESA REJOINS HIS CREWS. 

Wheji the crew of the brigantine and the compa- 
nions of Nicuesa met, they embraced each other 
with tears, for the hearts even of the rough ma- 
riners were subdued by the sorrows they had un- 
dergone; and men are rendered kind to each other 
by a community of suffering. The brigantine had 
brought a quantity of palm-nuts, and of such other 
articles of food as they had been able to procure 
along the coast. These the famished Spaniards de- 
voured with such voracity that Nicuesa was obliged 
to interfere, lest they should injure themselves. 
Nor was the supply of freshwater less grateful to 
their parched and fevered palates. 



I 12 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

When sufficiently revived, they all abandoned 
the desolate island, and set sail for the river 
Helen, exulting as joyfully as if their troubles 
were at an end, and they were bound to a haven 
of delight, instead of merely changing the scene 
of suffering, and encountering a new variety of 
horrors. 

In the meantime Lope de Olano had been dili- 
gently preparing for the approaching interview 
with his commander, by persuading his fellow- 
officers to intercede in his behalf, and to place his 
late conduct in the most favourable light. He had 
need of their intercessions. Nicuesa arrived, burn- 
ing with indignation. He ordered him to be in- 
stantly seized and punished as a traitor; attributing 
to his desertion the ruin of the enterprise and the 
sufferings and death of so many of his brave fol- 
lowers. The fellow-captains of Olano spoke in 
his favour; but Nicuesa turned indignantly upon 
them; « You do well,» cried he, « to supplicate 
mercy for him; you, who, yourselves, have need 
of pardon! You have participated in his crime; 
why, else, have you suffered so long a time to 
elapse without compelling him to send one of the 
vessels in search of me?» 

The captains now vindicated themselves by as- 
surances of their belief in his having foundered at 
sea. They reiterated their supplications for mercy 
to Olano ; drawing the most affecting pictures of 
their past and present sufferings, and urging the 
impolicy of incxeasing the horrors of their gitua- 



i5io.| DIEGO DE NICUESA. I I y. 

tion by acts of severity. Nicuesa at length was 
prevailed upon to spare his victim; resolving to 
send him, by the first opportunity, a prisoner to 
Spain. It appeared, in truth, no time to add to 
the daily blows of fate that were thinning the 
number of his followers. Of the gallant armament 
of seven hundred resolute and effective men that 
had sailed with him from San Domingo, four hun- 
dred had already perished by various miseries ; 
and, of the survivors, many could scarcely be said 
to live. 



CHAPTER V. 



SUFFERINGS OF NICUESA AND HIS MEN ON THE 
COAST OF THE ISTHMUS. 

The first care of Nicuesa, on resuming the general 
command, was to take measures for the relief of 
his people, who were perishing with famine and 
disease. All those who were in health, or who 
had strength sufficient to bear the least fatigue, 
were sent on foraging parties, among the fields and 
villages of the natives. It was a service of ex- 
treme peril; for the Indians of this part of the 
coast were fierce and warlike, and were the same 
who had proved so formidable to Columbus and 
his brother, when they attempted to found a settle- 
ment in this neighbourhood. 

Many of the Spaniards were slain in these expe- 
ditions. Even if they succeeded in collecting pro- 

5. 



I 1 4 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

visions, the toil of bringing them to the harbour 
was worse to men in their enfeebled condition, than 
the task of fighting for them ; for they were obliged 
to transport them on their backs, and, thus heavily 
laden, to scramble over rugged rocks, through al- 
most impervious forests and across dismal swamps. 

Harassed by these perils and fatigues, they 
broke forth into murmurs against their commander, 
accusing him, not merely of indifference to their 
sufferings, but of wantonly imposing severe and 
unnecessary tasks upon them out of revenge for 
their having neglected him. 

The genial temper of Nicuesa had, in fact> 
been soured by disappointment ; and a series of 
harassing cares and evils had rendered him ir- 
ritable and impatient ; but he was a cavalier of a 
generous and honourable nature, and does not 
appear to have enforced any services that were not 
indispensable to the common safety. In fact, the 
famine had increased to such a degree, that, we 
are told, thirty Spaniards having on one occasion 
found the dead body of an Indian in a state of 
decay, they were driven by hunger to make a meal 
of it, and were so infected by the horrible repast, 
that not one of them survived. 1 

Disheartened by these miseries, Nicuesa deter- 
mined to abandon a place which seemed destined to 
be the grave of Spaniards. Embarking the greater 
part of his men in the two brigantines, and the 
caravel which had been built by Olano, he set sail 

1 Herrera.Hist. Ind. D.i. andviii. c. 2. 



i5io.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. Il5 

eastward in search of some more favourable situ- 
ation for his settlement. A number of the men 
remained behind, to await the ripening of some 
maize and vegetables which they had sown. These 
he left under the command of Alonzo Nunez, whom 
he nominated his Alcalde Mayor. 

When Nicuesa had coasted about four leagues 
to the east, a Genoese sailor, who had been 
with Columbus in his last voyage, informed 
him that there was a fine harbour somewhere in 
that neighbourhood, which had pleased the old 
admiral so highly, that he had given it the name of 
Puerto Bello. He added, that they might know 
the harbour by an anchor, half buried in the sand, 
which Columbus had left there ; near to which was 
a fountain of remarkably cool and sweet water, 
springing up at the foot of a large tree. Nicuesa 
ordered search to be made along the coast, and at 
length they found the anchor, the fountain, and 
the tree. It was the same harbour which bears 
the name of Portobello at the present day. A 
number of the crew were sent on shore in search 
of provisions, but were assailed by the Indians; 
and, being too weak to wield their weapons with 
their usual prowess, were driven back to the vessels 
with the loss of several slain or wounded. 

Dejected at these continual misfortunes, Nicuesa 
continued his voyage seven leagues further, until he 
came to the harbour to which Columbus had given 
the name of Puerto de Bastimientos; or, Port of 
Provisions. It presented an advantageous situation 



Il6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

for a fortress, and was surrounded by a fruitful 
country. Nicuesa resolved to make it his abiding 
place. <(Here,» said he, «let us stop, en el 
nombre deDiosln (in the name of God). His fol- 
lowers, with the superstitious feeling under which 
men in adversity are prone to interpret every thing 
into omens, persuaded themselves that there was 
favourable augury in his words, and called the 
harbour uNombre de Dios,» which name it after- 
wards retained. 

Nicuesa now landed, and drawing his sword, 
took solemn possession in the name of the Catholic 
sovereigns. He immediately began to erect a 
fortress, to protect his people against the attacks of 
the savages. As this was a case of exigency, he 
exacted the labour of every one capable of exer- 
tion. The Spaniards, thus equally distressed by far* 
rnineand toil, forgot their favourable omen, cursed 
the place as fated to be their grave, and called 
down imprecationsonthehead of their commander, 
who compelled them to labour when ready to sink 
with hunger and debility. Those murmured no 
less who were sent in quest of food, which was 
only to be gained by fatigue and bloodshed ; for 
whatever they collected they had to transport from 
great distances, and they were frequently waylaid 
and assaulted by the Indians. 

When he could spare men for the purpose, Ni- 
cuesa despatched the caravelforthosewhomhehad 
left at the river Celen. Many of them had pe- 
rished, and the survivors had been reduced to such 



i5io.] DIEGO DE XICUESA. I 1 7 

£amin€ at times, as to eat all kinds of reptiles, until 
a part of an alligator was a banquet to them. On 
mastering ill his forces when thus united, Nicuesa 
found that but one hundred emaciated and de- 
jected wretches remained. 

lie despatched the caravel to Hispaniola, to 
bring a quantity of bacon which he had ordered 
to have prepared there, but it never returned. He 
ordered Gonzalo de Badajos, at the head of twenty 
men, to scour the country for provisions ; but the 
Indians had ceased to cultivate : they could do 
with little food, and could subsist on the roots and 
wild fruits of the forest. The Spaniards,' there- 
fore, found deserted villages and barren fields, but 
lurking- enemies at every defile. So deplorably 
were they reduced by their sufferings, that at 
length there were not left a sufficient number in 
health and strength to mount guard at night; and 
the fortress remained without sentinels. Such 
was the desperate situation of this once gay and" 
gallant cavalier, and of his brilliant armament, 
which but a few months before had sallied from 
San Domingo, flushed with the consciousness of 
power, and the assurance that they had the means 
of compelling the favours of fortune. 

It is necessary to leave them for a while, and 
turn our attention to other events, which will ul- 
timately be found to bear upon their destinies. 



Il8 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

CHAPTER VI. 

expedition of the bachelor enciso in search 
of the seat of government of ojeda. 

(i5io.) 

L\ calling to mind the narrative of the last expe- 
dition of AlonzodeOjeda,the reader will doubtless 
remember the Bachelor Martin Fernandez de 
Enciso, who was inspired by that adventurous 
cavalier with an illstarred passion for colonising, 
and freighted a vessel at San Domingo with rein- 
forcements and supplies for the settlement at San 
Sebastian. 

When the Bachelor was on the eve of sailing, a 
number of the loose hangers-on of the colony, and 
men encumbered with debt, concerted to join his 
ship from the coast and the outports. Their cre- 
ditors, however, getting notice of their intention, 
kept a close watch upon every one that went on 
board while in the harbour, and obtained an armed 
vessel from the Admiral Don Diego Columbus, to 
escort the enterprising Bachelor clear of the island. 
One man, however, contrived to elude these pre- 
cautions, and, as he afterwards rose to great im- 
portance, it is proper to notice him particularly. 
His name was Vasco Nunez de Balboa. He was 
a native of Xeres de los Caballeros, and of a noble 
though impoverished family. He had been brought 
up in the service of Don Pedro Puerto Carrero, 



,5io.] DIEGO DE NJCOESA . 119 

Lord of Moguer, and he afterwards enlisted among 
the adventurers who accompanied RodrigodeBas- 
tides in his voyage of discovery. Peter Martyr, 
in his Latin decades, speaks of him hy the appel- 
lation of a egregius digladiator,» which has been 
interpreted by some as a skilful swordsman, by 
others, as an adroit fencing-master. He intimates, 
also, that he was a mere soldier of fortune, of loose 
prod igal habits ; and the circumstances under which 
he is first introduced to us justify this character. 
He had fixed himself for a time in Hispaniola, and 
undertaken to cultivate a farm at the town ol 
Salvatierra, on the sea-coast, but in a little time 
had completely involved himself in debt. The 
expedition of Enciso presented him with an oppor- 
tunity of escaping from his embarrassments, and 
of indulging his adventurous habits. To elude 
the vigilance of his creditors and of the armed 
escort, he concealed himself in a cask, which was 
conveyed from his farm on the sea-coast on board 
of the vessel, as if containing provisions for the 
voyage. When the vessel was fairly out at sea, 
and abandoned by the escort, Vasco Nunez emerg- 
ed like an apparition from his cask, to the great 
surprise of Enciso, who had been totally ignorant 
of the stratagem. The Bachelor was indignant at 
being thus outwitted, even though he gained a 
recruit by the deception; and, in the first ebulli- 
tion of his wrath, gave the fugitive debtor a very 
rough reception, threatening to put him on shore 
on the first uninhabited island they should en- 



120 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5iO. 

counter. Vasco Nunez, however, succeeded in 
pacifying him, « for God, » says the venerable Las 
Casas, ((reserved him for greater things." It is 
probable the Bachelor beheld in him a man well 
fitted for his expedition, for Vasco Nuiiez was in 
the pr-ime and vigour of his days, tall and mus- 
cular, seasoned to hardships, and of intrepid spirit. 
Arriving at the main land, they touched at the 
fatal harbour of Carthagena, the scene of the san- 
guinary conflicts of Ojeda and Nicuesa with the 
natives, and of the death of the brave Juan de la 
Cosa. Enciso was ignorant of those events, having 
had no tidings from those adventurers since their 
departure from San Domingo; without any hesi- 
tation, therefore, he landed a number of his men 
to repair his boat, which was damaged, and to 
procure water. While the men were working 
upon the boat, a multitude of Indians gathered at 
a distance, well armed and with menacing aspect, 
sounding their shells and brandishing their wea- 
pons. The experience they had had of the tre- 
mendous powers of the strangers, however, ren- 
dered them cautious of attacking, and for three 
days they hovered in this manner about the 
Spaniards, the latter being obliged to keep con- 
tinually on the alert. At length two of the Spa- 
niards ventured one day from the main body to 
fill a water-cask from the adjacent river. Scarcely 
had they reached the margin of the stream, when 
eleven savages sprang from the thickets and sur- 
rounded them, bending their bows and pointing 



l5lo.] DIEGO DE N'ICUESA. i .'. I 

their arrows. In this way they stood for a moment 
or two in fearful suspense, the Indians refraining 
from discharging their shafts, but keeping them 
constantly pointed at their breasts. One of the 
Spaniards attempted to escape to his comrades who 
w r ere repairing the boat, but the other called him 
back, and, understanding something of the Indian 
tongue, addressed a few amicable words to the 
savages. The latter, astonished at being spoken to 
in their own language, now relaxed a little from 
their fierceness, and demanded of the strangers who 
they were, who were their leaders, and what they 
sought upon their shores. The Spaniard replied 
that they were harmless people, who came from 
other lands, and merely touched there through 
necessity, and he Avondered that they should meet 
them with such hostility; he at the same time 
warned them to beware, as there would come many 
of his countrymen well armed, and would wreak 
terriblevengeanceupon them for any mischief they 
might do. While they were thus parleying, the 
Bachelor Enciso, hearing that two of his men were 
surrounded by the savages, sallied instantly from 
his ship, and hastened with an armed force to their 
rescue. As he approached, however, the Spaniard 
who had held the parley made him a signal that 
the natives were pacific. In fact the latter had 
supposed that this was a new invasion of Ojeda 
and Nicuesa, and had thus arrayed themselves, if 
not to take vengeance for past outrages, at least 
to defend their houses from a second desolation. 

G 



129. SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

When they were convinced, however, that these 
were a totally different band of strangers, and 
without hostile intentions, their animosity was at 
an end ; they threw by their weapons, and came 
forward with tire most confiding- frankness. Dur- 
ing the whole time that the Spaniards remained 
there, they treated them with the greatest friend- 
ship, supplying themwithbread made from maize, 
with salted fish, and with the fermented and spi- 
rituous beverages common along that coast. Such 
was the magnanimous conduct of men who were 
considered among the most ferocious and Avarlike 
of these savage nations; and who, but recentlv, 
had beheld their shores invaded, their villages 
ravaged and burnt, and their friends and relations 
butchered, without regard to age or sex, by the 
countrymen of these very strangers. When we 
recall the bloody and indiscriminate vengeance 
wreaked upon this people by Ojeda and his fol- 
lowers for their justifiable resistance of invasion, 
and compare it with their placable and considerate 
spirit when an opportunity for revenge presented 
itself, we confess we feel a momentary doubt whe- 
ther the arbitrary appellation of savage is always 
applied to the right party. 



i5io] DIEGO DE NICUE^A. 123 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BACHELOR HEARS UNWELCOME TIDINGS OF 
HIS DESTINED JURISDICTION. 

Not long after the arrival of Enciso at this event- 
ful harbour, he was surprised by the circumstance 
of a brigantine entering-, and coming to anchor. 
To encounter an European sail in these almost 
unknown seas was always a singular and striking 
occurrence, but the astonishment of the Bachelor 
was mingled with alarm when, on boarding the 
brigantine, he found that it was manned by a num- 
ber of the men who had embarked with Ojeda. 
His first idea was, that they had mutinied against 
their commander, and deserted with the vessel. 
The feelings of the magistrate were aroused within 
him by the suspicion, and he determined to take 
his first step as Alcalde Mayor, by seizing them and 
inflicting on them the severity of the law. He 
altered his tone, however, on conversing with their 
resolute commander. This >vas no other than 
Francisco Pizarro, whom Ojeda had left as his 
locum tenens at San Sebastian, and who showed 
the Bachelor his letter patent, signed by that un- 
fortunate governor. In fact, the little brigantine 
contained the sad remnant of the once vaunted 
colony. After the departure of Ojeda in the 
pirate-ship, his followers, whom hehad left behind 
under the command of Pizarro, continued in the 



l-?4 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

fortress until the stipulated term of fifty days had 
expired. Receiving no succour, and hearing no 
tidings of Ojeda, they then determined to embark 
and sail for Hispaniola ; but here an unthought of 
difficulty presented itself, they were seventy in 
number, and the two brigantines which had been 
left with them were incapable of taking so many. 
They came to the forlorn agreement, therefore, 
to remain until famine, sickness, and the poisoned 
arrows of the Indians should reduce their number 
to the capacity of the brigantines. A brief space 
of time was sufficient for the purpose. They then 
prepared for the voyage. Four mares which had 
been kept alive, as terrors to the Indians, were 
killed and salted for sea-stores. Then taking 
whatever other articles of provision remained, they 
embarked and made sail. One brigantine was 
commanded by Pizarro, the other by one Valen- 
zuela. 

They had not proceeded far when, in a storm, a 
sea struck the crazy vessel of Valenzuela with such 
violence as to cause it to founder with all its crew. 
The other brigantine was so near that the mariners 
witnessed the struggles of their drowning compa- 
nions, and heard their cries. Some of the sailors, 
with the common disposition to the marvellous, 
declared that they had beheld a great whale, or 
some other monster of the deep, strike the vessel 
with its tail, and either stave in its sides or shatter 
the rudder, so as to cause the shipwreck. 1 The 

Hcrrera, Hist. Ind, d. i. 1. vii, c. 10. 



i5io.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. I 2D 

surviving brigantine then made the best of its way 
to the harbour of Carthagena, to seek provisions. 
Such was the disastrous account rendered to 
the Bachelor by Pizarro, of his destined juris- 
diction. Enciso, however, was of a confident mind 
and sanguine temperament, and trusted to restore 
all things to order and prosperity on his arrival. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CKUSADE OF THE BACHELOR ENCISO AGAINST THE 
SEPULCHRES OF ZENU. 

The BacheL^ Enciso, as has been shown, was a 
man of the sword as well as of the robe; having 
doubtless imbibed a passion for military exploit 
from his intimacy with the discoverers. Accord- 
ingly, while at Carthagena, he was visited by an 
impulse of the kind, and undertook an enterprise 
that would have been worthy of his friend Ojeda. 
He had been told by the Indians that about twenty- 
five leagues to the west lay a province called 
Zenu, the mountains of which abounded with the 
finest gold. This was washed down by torrents 
during the rainy season, in such quantities, that 
the natives stretched nets across the rivers to 
catch the largest particles; some of which were 
said to be as large as eggs. 

The idea of taking gold in nets captivated the 
imagination of the Bachelor, and his cupidity was 



126 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

still more excited by further accounts of this 
wealthy province. He was told that Zenu was the 
general place of sepulture of the Indian tribes 
throughout the country, whither they brought 
their dead, and buried them, according to their 
customs, decorated Avith their most precious orna- 
ments. 

It appeared to him a matter of course, there- 
fore, that there must be an immense accumulation 
of riches in the Indian tombs, from the golden 
ornaments that had been buried with the dead 
through a long series of generations. Fired with 
the thought, he determined to make a foray into 
this province and to sack the sepulchres! Neither 
did he feel any compunction at the idea of plunder- 
ing the dead, considering the deceased as pagans 
and infidels, who had forfeited even the sanctuary 
of the grave, by having been buried accoi-ding to 
the rites and ceremonies of their idolatrous religion. 

Enciso, accordingly, made sail from Cartha- 
gena and landed with his forces on the coast of 
Zenu. Here he was promptly opposed by two 
caciques, at the head of a large band of warriors. 
The Bachelor, though he had thus put on the 
soldier, retained sufficient of the spirit of his for- 
mer calling not to enter into quarrel without 
taking care to have the law on his side; he 
proceeded regularly, therefore, according to the 
legal form recently enjoined by the crown. He 
caused to be read and interpreted to the caciques 
the same formula used by Ojeda., expounding 



DIEGO DE XICUESA. 127 

the nature of the Deity, the supremacy of the 
pope and the right of the Catholic sovereigns 
to all these lands, by virtue of a grant from his 
holiness. The caciques listened to the whole 
very attentively and without interruption, accord- 
in;; to the laws of Indian courtesy. They then 
replied, that, as to the assertion that there was but 
one God the sovereign of heaven and earth, it 
seemed to them good, and that such must be the 
case; but as to the doctrine that the pope was 
regent of the world in place of God, and that he 
had made a grant of their country to the Spanish 
king, they observed that the pope must have been 
drunk to give away what was not his, and the 
king must have been somewhat mad to ask at his 
hands what belonged to others. They added, that 
they were lords of those lands and needed no other- 
sovereign, and if this king should come to take 
possession, they would cut off his head and put it 
on a pole; that being their mode of dealing with 
their enemies. — As an illustration of this custom 
they pointed out to Enciso the very uncomfortable 
spectacle of a row of grizly heads impaled in the 
neighbourhood. 

Nothing daunted either by the reply or the illus- 
tration, the Bachelor menaced them with war and 
slavery as the consequences of their refusal to be- 
lieve and submit. They replied by threatening to 
put his head upon a pole as a representative of 
his sovereign. The Bachelor, having furnished 
them with the law, now proceeded to the com- 



1-28 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

mentary. He attacked the Indians, routed them, 
and took one of the caciques prisoner, hut in the 
skirmish two of his men were slightly wounded 
with poisoned arrows, and died raving with tor- 
ment.' 

It does not appear, however, that his crusade 
against the sepulchres was attended with any 
lucrative advantage. Perhaps the experience he 
had received of the hostility of the natives, and of 
the fataleffects of their poisoned arrows, prevented 
his penetrating into the land, with his scanty force. 
Certain it is, the reputed wealth of Zenu, and the 
tale of its fishery for gold with nets, remained un- 
ascertained and uncontradicted, and were the cause 
of subsequent and disastrous enterprises. The 
Bachelor contented himself with his victory, and 
returning to his ships, prepared to continue his 
voyage for the seat of government established by 
Ojeda in the Gulf of Uraba. 

' The above anecdote is related by the Bachelor Enciso him- 
self, in a Geographical Work entitled Suma de Geocjraphia, which 
he published in Seville, in i5io,. As the reply of t ; e poor sa- 
vages contains something of natural logic, we give a part of it as 
reported by the Bachelor. <■ Respondieron me: que en lo que 
dezia que no avia sino un dios, y que este governaba el cielo y la 
ticrra, y que era senor de todo, que les parecia y que asi debia 
ser: pero que en lo que dezia que el papa era senor de todo el 
universo en lugar de dios, y que el avia fecho coerced de aquella 
tierra al rey de Castilla; dixeron que el papa debiera estar bo- 
racho quando lo hizo, pues daba lo que no era suyo, y que el rey 
que pedia y tomava tal uierced debia ser algun loco pues pedia lo 
que era de otros,» etc. 



i5io.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 129 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE BACHELOR ARRIVES AT SAN SEBASTIAN — HIS 
DISASTERS THERE, AND SUBSEQUENT EXPLOITS 
AT DARIEN. 

It was not without extreme difficulty, and the 
peremptory exercise of his authority as Alcalde 
Mayor, that Enciso prevailed upon the crew of 
Pizarro to return with him to the fated shores of 
San Sebastian. He at length arrived in sight of 
the long wished-for seat of his anticipated power 
and authority; but here he was doomed, like his 
principal, Ojeda, to meet with nothing but mis- 
fortune. On entering the harbour his yessel struck 
on a rock on the eastern point. The rapid cur- 
rents and tumultuous waves rent it to pieces ; the 
crew escaped with great difficulty to the brigan- 
tine of Pizarro; a little flour, cheese and biscuit, 
and a small part of the arms were saved, but the 
horses, mares, swine and all other colonial supplies 
were swept away, and the unfortunate Bachelor 
beheld the proceeds of several years of prosperous 
litigation swallowed up in an instant. 

His dream of place and dignity seemed equally 
on the point of vanishing; for,on landing, hefound 
the fortress and its adjacent houses mere heaps of 
ruins, having been destroyed with fire by the In- 
dians. 

For a few days the Spaniards maintained them- 



l3o SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5iO. 

selves with palm-nuts, and with the flesh of a kind 
of wild swine, of which they met with several 
herds. These supplies failing, the Bachelor sallied 
forth with a hundred men to forage the country. 
They were waylaid by three Indians, who dis- 
charged all the arrows in their quivers with incre- 
dible rapidity, wounded several Spaniards, and 
then fled with a swiftness that defied pursuit. 
The Spaniards returned to the harbour in dismay. 
All their dread of the lurking savages and their 
poisoned weapons revived, and they insisted upon 
abandoning a place marked out for disaster. 

The Bachelor Enciso was himself disheartened 
at the situation of this boasted capital of San Se- 
bastian; but whither could he go where the same 
misfortunes might not attend him? In this mo- 
ment of doubt and despondency, Vasco Nunez, the 
sameabscondingdebtorwho had been smuggled on 
board in the cask, stepped forward to give counsel. 
lie informed the Bachelor, that several years pre- 
viously he had sailed along that coast with Rodrigo 
de Bastides. They had explored the whole gulf of 
Uraba; and he well remembered an Indian village 
situated on the western side, on the banks of a 
river which the natives called Darien. The coun- 
try around was fertile and abundant, and was said 
to possess mines of gold ; and the natives, though a 
warlike race, never made use of poisoned weapons. 
He offered to guide the Bachelor to this place, 
where they might get a supply of provisions, and 
even found their colony. 



l5 io.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. J 3 I 

The Spaniards hailed the words of Vasco Nunez 
as if revealing a land of promise. The Bachelor 
adopted his advice, and, guided by him, set sail for 
the village, determined to eject the inhabitants and 
take possession of it as the seat of government. 
Arrived at the river, he landed, put his men in 
martial array, and marched along the banks. The 
place was governed by a brave cacique named 
Zemaco. When he heard of the approach of the 
Spaniards, he sent off the women and children to 
a place of safety, and, posting himself with five 
hundred of his warriors on a height, prepared to 
give the intruders a warm reception. The Bachelor 
was a discoverer at all points, pious, daring, and 
rapacious. On beholding this martial array he 
recommended himself and his followers to God, 
making a vow in their name to « Our Lady of An- 
tigua," whose image is adored with great devotion 
in Seville, that the first church and town which 
they built should be dedicated to her, and that 
they would make a pilgrimage to Seville to offer the 
spoils of the heathen at her shrine. Having thus 
endeavoured to propitiate the favour of heaven, 
and to retain the holy Virgin in his cause, he next 
proceeded to secure the fidelity of his followers. 
Doubting that they might have some lurking dread 
of poisoned arrows, he exacted from them all an 
oath that they would not turn their backs upon the 
foe, whatever might happen. Never did warrior 
enter into battle with more preliminary forms and 
covenants than the Bachelor Enciso. All these 



l32 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [iSto. 

points being arranged, he assumed the soldier, and 
attacked the enemy with such valour, that, though 
they made at first a show of fierce resistance, they 
were soon put to flight, and many of them slain. 
The Bachelor entered the village in triumph, took 
possession of it by unquesti onable right of conquest, 
and plundered all the hamlets and houses of the sur- 
rounding country ; collecting great quantities of 
food and cotton, with bracelets, anklets, plates and 
other ornaments of gold, to the value often thou- 
sandcastellanos. 1 His heart was wonderfully elated 
by his victory and his booty ; his followers, also, 
after so many hardships and disasters, gave them- 
selves up to joy at this turn of good fortune, and 
it was unanimously agreed that the seat of govern- 
ment should be established in this village; to 
which, in fulfilment of his vow, Enciso gave the 
name of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE BACHELOR ENCISO UNDERTAKES THE COM- 
MAND—HIS DOWNFAL. 

The Bachelor Enciso now entered upon the ex- 
ercise of his civil functions as Alcalde Mayor, and 
Lieutenant of the absent governor, Ojeda. His 
first edict was stern and peremptory; he forbade 

* Equivalent to a present sum of 53,259 dollars. 



i5m>] DIEGO DE NICUESA. l33 

all trafficking with the natives for gold, on private 
account, under pain of death. This was in confor- 
mity to royal command; hut it was little palat- 
able to men who had engaged in the enterprise in 
the hopes of enjoying free trade, lawless liberty, 
and golden gains. They murmured among them- 
selves, and insinuated that Enciso intended to 
reserve all the profit to himself. 

Vasco Nunez was the first to take advantage of 
the general discontent. He had risen to conse- 
quence among his fellow-adventurers, from having 
guided them to this place and from his own in- 
trinsic qualities, being hardy, hold, and intelli- 
gent, and possessing the random spirit and open- 
handed generosity common to a soldier of for- 
tune, and calculated to dazzle and delight the 
multitude. 

He bore no good will to the Bachelor, recollecting 
his threat of landing him on an uninhabitedisland , 
when he escaped in a cask from San Domingo. 
He sought, therefore, to make a party against him, 
and to unseat him from his command. He at- 
tacked him in his own way with legal weapons, 
questioning the legitimacy of his pretensions. The 
boundary line, he observed, which separated the 
jurisdictions of Ojeda and Nicuesa, ran through 
the centre of the gulf of Uraba. The village of 
Darien lav on the western side, which had been 
allotted to Nicuesa. Enciso, therefore, as Alcalde 
Mavor and Lieutenant of Ojeda, could have no 



1 34 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io- 

jurisdiction here, and his assumed authority was 
a sheer usurpation. 

The Spaniards, already incensed at the fiscal 
regulations of Enciso, were easily convinced, so 
with one accord they refused allegiance to him ; 
and the unfortunate Bachelor found the chair of 
authority to which he had so fondly and anxiously 
aspired, suddenly wrested from under him, before 
he had well time to take his seat. 



CHAPTER XL 



PERPLEXITIES AT THE COLONY ARRIVAL OF 

COLMENARES. 

To depose the Bachelor had been an easy matter, 
for most men are ready to assist in pulling down ; 
but to chuse a successor was a task of far more 
difficulty. The people at first agreed to elect 
mere civil magistrates, and accordingly appointed 
Vasco Nunez and one Zemudio as alcaldes, toge- 
ther with a cavalier of some merit of the name of 
Valdivia, as regidor. They soon, however, be- 
came dissatisfied with this arrangement, and it 
was generally considered advisable to vest the 
authority in one person. Who this person should 
be, was now the question. Some proposed Ni- 
cuesa, as they were within his province ; others 
were strenuous for Vasco Nunez. A violent dis- 
pute ensued, Avhich was carried on with such 



ijio.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. 1 35 

heat and obstinacy, that many, anxious for a quiet 
life, declared it would be better to reinstate En- 
ciso until the pleasure of the king should be 
known. 

In the height of these factious altercations the 
Spaniards were aroused one day by the thunder- 
ing of cannon from the opposite side of the gulf, 
and beheld columns of smoke arising from the 
hills. Astonished at these signals of civilized 
man on these wild shores, they replied in the 
same manner, and in a short time two ships were 
seen standing across the gulf. They proved to be 
an armament commanded by one Rodrigo deCol- 
menares, and were in search of Nicuesa with sup- 
plies. They had met with the usual luck of ad- 
venturers on this disastrous coast, storms at sea 
and savage foes on shore, and many of their num- 
ber had fallen by poisoned arrows. Colmenares 
had touched at San Sebastian to learn tidings of 
Nicuesa; but, finding the fortress in ruins, had 
made signals, in hopes of being heard by the 
Spaniards, should they be yet lingering in the 
neighbourhood. 

The arrival of Colmenares caused a temporary 
suspension of the feuds of the colonists. He dis- 
tributed provisions among them, and gained their 
hearts. Then representing the legitimate right 
of Nicuesa to the command of all that part of the 
coast as a governor appointed by the king, he 
persuaded the greater part of the people to ac- 
knowledge his authority. It was generally agreed, 



i 36 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

therefore, that he should cruise along the coast in 
search of Nicuesa, and that Diego de Albitez, and 
an active member of the law, called the Bachelor 
Corral, should accompany him as ambassadors, to 
invite that cavalier to come and assume the go- 
vernment of Darien. 



CHAPTER XII. 

COLMENARES GOES IN QUEST OF NICUESA. 

Roderigo de Colmenares proceeded along the 
coast to the westward, looking into every bay and 
harbour, but for a long time without success. At 
length one day he discovered a brigantine at a 
small island in the sea. On making up to it, he 
found that it was partof the armament of Nicuesa, 
and had been sent out by him to forage for provi- 
sions. By this vessel he was piloted to the port 
of Nombre de Dios, the nominal capital of the un- 
fortunate governor, but which was so surrounded 
and over-shadowed by forests, that he might have 
passed by without noticing it. 

The arrival of Colmenares was welcomed Avith 
transports and tears of joy. It was scarcely pos- 
sible for him to recognise the once buoyant and 
brilliant Nicuesa in the squalid and dejected man 
before him. He was living in the most abject 
misery. Of all his once gallant and powerful 
band of followers, but sixty men remained, and 



l5lO.] DIEGO DE NICUESA. l3y 

those so feeble, yellow, emaciated, and wo&-be- 
gone, that it was piteous to behold them. 1 

Colmenares distributed food among them, and 
told them that he had come to convey them to a 
plenteous country, and one rich in gold. When 
Nicuesa heard of the settlement at Darien, and 
that the inhabitants had sent for him to come and 
govern them, he was as a man suddenly revived 
from death. All the spirit and munificence of the 
cavalier again awakened in him. He gave a kind 
of banquet that very day to Colmenares and the 
ambassadors, from the provisions brought in the 
ship. He presided at his table with his former 
hilarity, and displayed a feat of his ancient office 
as royal carver, by holding up a fowl in the air 
and dissecting it with wonderful adroitness. 

Well would it have been for Nicuesa had the 
sudden buoyancy of his feelings carried him no 
further; but adversity had not taught him pru- 
dence. In conversing with the envoys about the 

1 The harbour of Nombre de Dios continued for a long time to 
present traces of the sufferings of the Spaniards. We are told by 
Herrera, that several years after the time here mentioned, a band 
of eighty Spanish soldiers, commanded by Gonzalo de Badajos, 
arrived at the harbour with an intention of penetrating into the 
interior. They found there the ruined fort of Nicuesa, together 
with skulls and bones, and crosses erected on heaps of stones, 
dismal mementos of his followers who had perished of hunger; 
the sight of which struck such horror and dismay into the hearts 
of the soldiers that they would have abandoned their enterprise, 
had not their intrepid captain immediately sent away the ships, 
and thus deprived them of the means of retreating. Herrera, d. 

6. 



1 38 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

colony of Darien, he already assumed the tone of 
governor, and began to disclose the kind of po- 
licy with which he intended to rule. When he 
heard that great quantities of gold had been col- 
lected and retained by private individuals, his ire 
was kindled. lie vowed to make them refund it, 
and even talked of punishing them for trespassing 
upon the privileges and monopolies of the crown. 
This was the very error that had unseated the 
Bachelor Enciso from his government, and it was 
a strong" measure for one to threaten who as yet 
was governor but in expectation. The menace was 
not lost upon the watchful ambassadors Diego de 
Albitez and the Bachelor Corral. They were put 
still more on the alert by a conversation which 
they held that very evening with Lope de Olano, 
who was still detained a prisoner for his desertion, 
but who found means to commune with the en- 
voys, and to prejudice them againsthis unsuspect- 
ing commander. «Take warning,)) said he, k by 
my treatment. I sent relief to Nicuesa and res- 
cued him from death when starving on a desert 
island. Behold my recompense. He repays me 
with imprisonment and chains. Such is the gra- 
titude the people of Darien may look for at his 
hands!)) 

The subtle Bachelor Corral and his fellow en- 
voy laid these matters to heart, and took their 
measures accordingly. They hurried their depar- 
ture before Nicuesa, and setting all sail on their 
caravel, hastened back to Darien. The moment 



1 5 1 o ] DIEGO DE NICUESA. l39 

they arrived they summoned a meeting of the 
principal inhabitants. « A blessed change we have 
made,') said they, « in summoning this Diego de 
Nicuesa to the command! We have called in the 
stork to take the rule, who will not rest satisfied 
until he has devoured us.» They then related, 
with the usual exaggeration, the unguarded threats 
that had fallen from Nicuesa, and instanced his 
treatment of Olano as a proof of a tyrannous and 
ungrateful disposition. 

The words of the subtle Bachelor Corral and his 
associate produced a violent agitation among the 
people, especially among those who had amassed 
treasures which would have to be refunded. Ni- 
cuesa, too, by a transaction which almost destroys 
sympathy in his favour, gave time for their pas- 
sions to ferment. On his way to Darien he 
stopped for several days among a group of small 
islands, for the purpose of capturing Indians to be 
sold as slaves. While committing these outrages 
against humanity, he sent forward Juan deCayzedo 
in a boat to announce his coming. His messenger 
had a private pique against him, and played him 
false. He assured the people of Darien that all 
they had been told by their envoys concerning the 
tyranny and ingratitude of Nicuesa was true; — that 
he treated his followers with wanton severity, that 
he took from them all they won in battle, saying 
that the spoils were his rightful property; and 
that it was his intention to treat the people of 
Darien in the same manner. « What folly is it in 



l40 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io. 

you,» added he, « being your own masters, and in 
such free condition, to send for a tyrant to rule 
over you!» 

The people of Darien were convinced by this 
concurring testimony, and confounded by the 
overwhelming evil they had thus invoked upon 
their heads. They had deposed Euciso for his 
severity, and they had thrown themselves into the 
power of one who threatened to be ten times more 
severe! Vasco Nunez de Balboa observed their 
perplexity and consternation. He drew them one 
by one apart, and conversed with them in pri- 
vate. "You are cast down in heart, » said he, 
« and so you might well be, were the evil beyond 
all cure. But do not despair ; there is an effectual 
relief, and you hold it in your hands. If you have 
committed an error in inviting Nicuesa to Darien, 
it is easily remedied by not receiving him when he 
comes!)) The obviousness and simplicity of the 
remedy struck every mind, and it was unanimously 
adopted. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CATASTROPHE OF THE UNFORTUNATE NICUESA. 

While this hostile plot was maturing at Darien, 
the unsuspecting Nicuesa pursued his voyage 
leisurely and serenely, and arrived in safety at the 
mouth of the river. On approaching the shore he 



i5 i i .] DIEGO DE NICUESA. I 4 I 

beheld a multitude, headed by Vasco Nunez, 
waiting, as he supposed, to receive him with all 
due honour. He was about to land when the 
public procurator, or attorney, called to him with 
a loud voice, warning him not to disembark, but 
advising him to return with all speed to his go- 
vernment at Nombre de Dios. 

Nicuesa remained for a moment as if thunder- 
struck by so unlooked-for a salutation. When he 
recovered his self-possession, he reminded them 
that he had come at their own recpiest; he en- 
treated, therefore, that he might be allowed to 
land and have an explanation, after which he 
would be ready to act as they thought proper. 
His entreaties were vain; they only provoked in- 
solent replies, and threats of violence should he 
venture to put foot on shore. Night coming on, 
therefore, he was obliged to stand out to sea, but 
returned the next morning, hoping to find this 
capricious people in a different mood. 

There did, indeed, appear to be a favourable 
change, for he was now invited to land. It was a 
mere stratagem to get him in their power; for no 
sooner did he set foot on shore than the multitude 
rushed forward to seize him. Among his many 
bodily endowments, Nicuesa was noted for swift- 
ness of foot. He now trusted to it for safety, 
and, throwing off the dignity of governor, fled for 
his life along the shore, pursued by the rabble- 
He soon distanced his pursuers, and took refuge 
in the woods. 



1^2 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i 5 1 1 . 

Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who was himself a 
man of birth, seeing this high-bred cavalier re- 
duced to such extremity, and at the mercy of a 
violent rabble, repented of what he had done. He 
had not anticipated such popular fury, and endea- 
voured, though too late, to allay the tempest he 
had raised. He succeeded in preventing the 
people from pursuing Nicuesa into the forest, 
and then endeavoured to mollify the vindictive 
rage of his fellow alcalde, Zamudio, whose hosti- 
lity was quickened by the dread of losing his 
office, should the new governor be received ; and 
who was supported in his boisterous conduct by 
the natural love of the multitude for what are called 
u Strong measures." Nicuesa now held a parley 
with the populace, through the mediation of Vasco 
Nunez. He begged that, if they would not ac- 
knowledge him as governor, they would at least 
admit him as a companion. This they refused, 
saying, that if they admitted him in one capacity, 
he would end by attaining to the other. He then 
implored that, if he could be admitted on no other 
terms, they would treat him as a prisoner, and put 
him in irons, for he would rather die among them 
than return to Nombre de Dios, to perish of fa- 
mine, or by the arrows of the Indians. 

It was in vain that Vasco Nunez exerted his 
eloquence to obtain some grace for this unhappy 
cavalier. His voice was drowned by the vocifer- 
ations of the multitude. Among these was a 
noisy swaggering fellow named Francisco Benitez, 



i5u] DIEGO DE NICUESA. l43 

a great talker and jester, who took a vulgar tri- 
umph in the distresses of a cavalier, and answered 
every plea in his behalf with scoffs and jeers. He 
was an adherent of the alcalde Zamudio, and un- 
der his patronage felt emboldened to bluster. His 
voice was ever uppermost in the general clamour, 
until to the expostulations of Vasco Nunez, he 
replied by merely bawling, with great vocifera- 
tion, <(No, no, no! — we will receive no such a 
fellow among us as Nicuesa !» The patience of 
Vasco Nunez was exhausted ; he availed himself 
of his authority as alcalde, and suddenly, before 
his fellow magistrate could interfere, ordered the 
brawling ruffian to be rewarded Avith a hundred 
lashes, which were taled out roundly to him upon 
the shoulders. 1 

Seeing that the fury of the populace was not to 
be pacified, he sent word to Nicuesa to retire to 
his brigantine, and not to venture on shore until 
advised by him to do so. The counsel was fruitless. 
Nicuesa, above deceit himself, suspected it not 
in others. He retired to his brigantines, it is true, 
but suffered himself to be inveigled on shore by a 
deputation professing to come on the part of the 
public, with offers to reinstate him as governor. 
He had scarcely landed when he was set upon by 
an armed band, headed by the base-minded 
Zamudio, who seized him and compelled him, by 
menaces of death, to swear that he would imme- 
diately depart, and make no delay in any place 
' Las Casas, Hist. hid. 1. ii. c. C8. 



I 44 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5n. 
until he had presented himself before the king and 
council in Castile. 

It was in vain that Nicuesa reminded them that 
he was governor of that territory and representa- 
tive of the king, and that they were guilty of trea- 
son in thus opposing him; it was in vain that he 
appealed to their humanity, or protested before 
God against their cruelty and persecution. The 
people were in that state of tumult when they are 
apt to add cruelty to injustice. Not content with 
expelling the discarded governor from their shores, 
they allotted him the worst vessel in the harbour; 
an old crazy brigantine totally unfit to encounter 
the perils and labours of the sea. 

Seventeen followers embarked with him; some 
being of his household and attached to his person; 
the rest were volunteers, who accompanied him 
out of respect and sympathy. The frail bark set 
sail on the first of March, 1 5 1 1, and steered 
across the Caribbean sea for the island of Hispa- 
niola, but was never seen or heard of more! 

Various attempts have been made to penetrate 
the mystery that covers the fate of the brigantine 
and its crew. A rumour prevailed some years 
afterwards, that several Spaniards, wandering 
along the shore of Cuba, found the following in- 
scription carved on a tree; — 

Aqui fenecio el desdichado Nicuesa. 1 

Hence it was inferred that he and his followers 

had landed there, and been massacred by the In- 

1 Here perished the unfortunate Nicuesa. 



1 5 1 1 .] DIEGO DE NICUESA. I 45 

dians. Las Casas, however, discredits this story. 
He accompanied the first Spaniards who took 
possession of Cuba, and heard nothing of the fact, 
as lie most probably would have done had it really 
occurred. He imagines, rather, that the crazv 
bark was swallowed up by the storms and cur- 
rents of the Caribbean sea, or that the crew pe- 
rished Avith hunger and thirst, having been but 
scantilv supplied with provisions. The good old 
bishop adds, with the superstitious feeling preva- 
lent in that age, that a short time before Nicuesa 
sailed from Spain on his expedition, an astrologer 
warned him not to depart on the day he had ap- 
pointed, or under a certain sign; the cavalier re- 
plied, however, that he had less confidence in the 
stars than in God who made them. « I recollect, 
moreover,)) adds Las Casas, «that about this time 
a comet was seen over this island of Ilispaniola, 
which, if I do not forget, was in the shape of a 
sword; and it was said that a monk warned 
several of those about to embark with Nicuesa, 
to avoid that captain, for the heavens foretold he 
was destined to be lost. The same, however,)) 
he concludes, « might be said of Alonzo de Ojeda, 
who sailed at the same time, yet returned to San 
Domingo and died in his bed.)) 1 

1 Las Casas, ut sup. c. 68. 



VASGO NUNEZ DE BALBOA, 



DISCOVERER OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



CHAPTER I. 

FACTIONS AT DARIEN VASGO NUNEZ ELEVATED 

TO THE COMMAND. 

We have traced the disastrous fortunes of Alonzo 
de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa ; — we have now to 
record the story of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, an ad- 
venturer equally daring, far more renowned, and 
not less unfortunate, who in a manner rose upon 
their ruins. 

When the bark disappeared from view which 
bore the ill-starred Nicuesa from the shores of 
Darien, the community relapsed into factions, as 
to who should have the rule. The Bachelor Enciso 
insisted upon his claims as paramount, but he met 
with a powerful opponent in Vasco Nunez, who 
had become a great favourite with the people, 
from his frank and fearless character, and his 
winning affability. In fact, he was peculiarly 
calculated to manage the fiery and factious, yet 
generous and susceptible, nature of his country- 
men-, for the Spaniards, though proud and resent- 
ful, and impatient of indignity or restraint, are 
easily dazzled by valour, and won by courtesy 



l5li.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. I 4y 

and kindness. Vasco Nunez had the external re- 
quisites also to captivate the multitude. He was 
now about thirty-live years of age; tall, well 
formed, and vigorous, with reddish hair, and an 
open prepossessing countenance. His office of 
alcalde, while it clothed him with influence and 
importance, tempered those irregular and disso- 
lute habits he might have indulged while a mere 
soldier of fortune; and his superior talent soon 
gave him a complete ascendancy over his official 
colleague Zamudio. He was thus enabled to set 
on foot a vigorous opposition to Enciso. Still he 
proceeded according to the forms of law, and 
summoned the Bachelor to trial, on the charge of 
usurping the powers of alcalde mayor, on the 
mere appointment of Alonzo de Ojeda, whose ju- 
risdiction did not extend to this province. 

Enciso was an ablelawyer, and pleaded his cause 
skilfully; but his claims were, in fact, fallacious, 
and, had they not been so, he had to deal with 
men who cared little for law, who had been irri- 
tated bv his legal exactions, and who were dis- 
posed to be governed by a man of the sword rather 
than of the robe. He was readily found guilty 
therefore, and thrown into prison, and all his pro- 
perty was confiscated. This was a violent verdict, 
and rashly executed; but justice seemed to grow 
fierce and wild when transplanted to the wilder- 
ness of the new world. Still there is no place 
where wrong can be committed with impunity; 
the oppression of the Bachelor Enciso, though 



1 48 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5ii. 

exercised under the forms of law, and in a region 
remote from the pale of civilized life, redounded 
to the eventual injury of Vasco Nunez, and con- 
tributed to blast the fruits of that ambition it was 
intended to promote. 

The fortunes of the enterprising- Bachelor had 
indeed run strangely counter to the prospects with 
which he had embarked at San Domingo; he 
had become a culprit at the bar instead of a judge 
upon the bench ; and now was left to ruminate in 
a prison on the failure of his late attempt at gene- 
ral command. His friends, however, interceded 
warmly in his behalf, and at length obtained his 
release from confinement, and permission for him 
to return to Spain. Vasco Nunez foresaw that the 
lawyer would be apt to plead his cause more effec- 
tually at the court of Castile than he had done 
before the partial and prejudiced tribunal of Da- 
rien. He prevailed upon his fellow alcalde Za- 
mudio, therefore, who was implicated with him 
in the late transactions, to return to Spain in the 
same vessel with the Bachelor, so as to be on the 
spot to answer his charges, and to give a favour- 
able report of the case. He was also instructed 
to set forth the services of Vasco Nunez, both in 
guiding the colonists to this place, and in manag- 
ing the affairs of the settlement; and to dwell 
with emphasis on the symptoms of great riches 
in the surrounding country. 

The Bachelor and the Alcalde embarked in a 
small caravel; and, as it was to touch at Hispa- 



1 5 1 1 .] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. i jg 

niola, Vasco Nunez sent his confidential friend, 
the RegidorValdivia, to that island to obtain pro- 
visions and recruits. He secretly put into his 
hands a round sum of gold as a present to Miguel 
de Pasamonte, the royal treasurer of Hispaniola, 
whom he knew to have great credit with the king, 
and to be invested with extensive powers, craving 
at the same time his protection in the new world 
and his influence at court. 

Having taken these shrewd precautions, Vasco 
Nunez saw the caravel depart without dismay, 
though bearing to Spain his mostdangerous enemy; 
he consoled himself, moreover, with the reflection 
that it likewise bore off his fellow alcalde Zamu- 
dio, and thus left him in sole command of the 
colony. 



CHAPTER II. 



EXPEDITION TO COYBA VASCO NUNEZ RECEIVES 

THE DAUGHTER OF A CACIQUE AS HOSTAGE. 

Vasco Nunez now exerted himself to prove his 
capacity for the government to which he had as- 
pired ; and as he knew that no proof was more 
convincing to King Ferdinand than ample remit- 
tances, and that gold covered all sins in the new 
world, his first object was to discover those parts 
of the country which most abounded in the pre- 
cious metals. Hearing exaggerated reports of the 



l50 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [ r 5 1 1 . 

riches of a province about thirty leagues distant, 
called Goyba, he sent Francisco Pizarro with six 
men to explore it. 

The Cacique Zemaco, the native lord of Darien, 
who cherished a bitter hostility against the Euro- 
pean intruders, and hovered with his warriors 
about the settlement, received notice of this de- 
tachment from his spies, and planted himself in 
ambush to waylay and destroy it. The Spaniards 
had scarcely proceeded three leagues along the 
course of the river when a host of savages burst 
upon them from the surrounding thickets, utter- 
ing frightful yells, and discharging showers of 
stones and arrows. Pizarro and his men, though 
sorely bruised and wounded, rushed into the thick- 
est of the foe, slew many, wounded more, and put 
the rest to flight; but, fearing another assault, they 
made a precipitate retreat, leaving one of their 
companions, Francisco Hernan, disabled on the 
held. They arrived at the settlement crippled 
and bleeding-, but when Vasco Nunez heard the 
particulars of the action, his anger was roused 
against Pizarro, and he ordered him, though 
wounded, to return immediately and recover the 
disabled man. « Let it not be said, for shame," 
said he, ((that Spaniards lied before savages, and 
left a comrade in their hands !» Pizarro felt the 
rebuke, returned to the scene of combat, and 
brought off Francisco Hernan in safety. 

Nothing having been heard of Nicuesa since his 
departure, Vasco Nuilez despatched two brigan- 



l5ll.] VASCO NUiNEZ DE BALBOA. I 5 I 

tines for those folloAvers of that unfortunate ad- 
venturer who had remained at Nombre de Dios. 
They were overjoyed at being rescued from their 
forlorn situation, and conveyed to a settlement 
where there was some prospect of comfortable 
subsistence. The brigantines, in coasting the 
shores of the Isthmus, picked up two Spaniards, 
clad in painted skins, and looking as wild as the 
native Indians. These men, to escape some pu- 
nishment, bad fled from the ship of Nicuesa about 
a year and a half before, and had taken refuge 
with Careta, the cacique of Coyba. The savage 
chieftain had treated them with hospitable kind- 
ness; their first return for which, now that they 
found themselves safe among their countrymen, 
was to advise the latter to invade the cacique in 
his dwelling, where they assured them they would 
find immense booty. Finding their suggestion 
listened to, one of them proceeded to Darien, to 
serve as a guide to any expedition that might 
be set on foot; the other returned to the cacique, 
to assist in betraying him. 

Yasco Nunez was elated by the intelligence re- 
ceived through these vagabonds of the wilderness. 
He chose a hundred and thirty well-armed and 
resolute men, and set off for Coyba. The cacique 
received the Spaniards in his mansion with the 
accustomed hospitality of a savage, setting before 
them meat and drink, and whatever his house af- 
forded; but when Yasco Nunez asked for a large 
supply of provisions for the colony, he declared 



]52 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [»5n ' 

that he had none to spare, his people having been 
prevented from cultivating the soil by a Avar which 
he was waging with the neighbouring cacique of 
Ponca, The Spanish outcast, who had remained 
to betray his benefactor, now took Vasco Nunez 
aside, and assured him that the cacique had an 
abundant hoard of provisions in secret; he advised 
him, however, to seem to believe his words, and 
to make a pretended departure for Darien with his 
troops, but to return in the night and take the 
village by surprise. Vasco Nunez adopted the 
advice of the traitor. He took a cordial leave of 
Careta, and set off for the settlement. In the dead 
of the night, however, when the savages were 
buried in deep sleep, Vasco Nunez led his men into 
the midst of the village, and, before the inhabitants 
could rouse themselves to resistance, made cap- 
tives of Careta, his wives, and children, and many 
of his people. He discovered also the hoard of 
provisions, with which he loaded two brigantines, 
and returned with his booty and his captives to 
Darien. 

When the unfortunate cacique beheld his family 
in chains, and in the hands of strangers, his heart 
was wrung with despair; « What have I done to 
thee,)i said he to Vasco Nunez, «that thou shouldst 
treat me thus cruelly? none of thy people ever 
came to my land that Mere not fed, and sheltered, 
and treated with loving kindness. When thou 
earnest to my dwelling, did I meet thee with a 



ijii.J VASCO NTjftF.Z DE BALBOA. 1 53 

javelin in my hand? Did I not set meat and 
drink before thee, and welcome thee as a brother? 
Set me free, therefore, with my family and people, 
and we will remain thy friends. We will supply 
thee with provisions, and reveal to thee the riches 
of the land. Dost thou doubt my faith? Behold 
mv daughter, I give her to thee as a pledge of 
friendship. Take her for thy wife, and be assured 
of the fidelity of her family and her people!)) 

"Vasco Nunez felt the force of these words, and 
knew the importance of forming a strong alliance 
among the natives. The captive maid, also, as 
she stood trembling and dejected before him, 
found great favour in his eyes, for she was young 
and beautiful. He granted, therefore, the prayer 
of the cacique, and accepted his daughter, engag- 
ing moreover, to aid the father against his enemies, 
on condition of his furnishing provisions to the 
colony. 

Careta remained three days at Darien, during 
which time he was treated with the utmost kind- 
ness. Vasco Nunez took him on board of his 
ships, and showed him every part of them. He 
displayed before him also the war-horses, with 
their armour and rich caparisons, and astonished 
him with the thunder of artillery. Lest he should 
be too much daunted by these warlike spectacles, 
he caused the musicians to perform an harmonious 
concert on their instruments, at which the cacique 
was lost in admiration. Thus having impressed 



1 54 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5n. 

him with a wonderful idea of the power and en- 
dowments of his new allies, he loaded him with 
presents, and permitted him to depart. 1 

Careta returned joyfully to bis territories, and 
hisdaughter remained with Vaseo Nunez, willingly 
for his sake giving up her family and native home. 
They were never married, but she considered her- 
self bis wife, as she really was, according to the 
usages of her own country; and he treated her 
with fondness, allowing her gradually to acquire 
great influence over him. To his affection for 
this damsel, his ultimate ruin is in some measure 
to be ascribed. 



CHAPTER III. 



VASCO NUNEZ HEARS OF A SEA BEYOND THE 
MOUNTAINS. 

Vasco Nunez kept his word with the father of 
his Indian beauty. Taking with him eighty men, 
and his companion in arms Rodrigo Enriquez de 
Colmenares, he repaired by sea to Coyba, tbe pro- 
vince of the cacicpae. Here landing, he invaded tbe 
territories of Ponca, the great adversary of Careta, 
and obliged him to take refuge in tbe mountains. 
He then ravaged his lands, and sacked his villages, 
in which he found considerable booty. Returning 
to Coyba, where he was joyfully entertained by 

« P. Martyr, D. 3. c. vi. 



I5li.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 153 

Careta,he next made a friendly visit to the adjacent 
province of Comagre, which was under the sway 
of a cacique, of the same name, who had 3ooo 
fighting men at his command. 

This province was situated at the foot of a lofty 
mountain in a beautiful plain, twelve leagues in 
extent. On the approach of Vasco Nunez, the 
cacique came forth to meet him, attended by seven 
sons, all fine young men, the offspring of his vari- 
ous wives. He was followed by his principal 
chiefs and warriors, and by a multitude of his 
people. The Spaniards were conducted with great 
ceremony to the village, where quarters were as- 
signed them, and they were furnished with abun- 
dance of provisions, and men and women were 
appointed to attend upon them. 

The dwelling of the cacique surpassed any they 
had yet seen for magnitude, and for the skill and 
solidity of the architecture. It was one hundred and 
fiftv paces in length, and eighty in breadth, founded 
upon great logs, surrounded with a stone wall; 
while the upper part was of wood-work, curiously 
interwoven, and wrought with such beauty as to 
fill the Spaniards with surprise and admiration. It 
contained many commodious apartments. There 
were store-rooms also; one filled with bread, with 
venison, and other provisions; another with various 
spirituous beverages, v\ Inch the Indians made from 
maize, from a species of the palm, and from roots 
of different kinds. There was also a great hall in 
a retired and secret part of the building, wherein 



i 56 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5u. 

Comagre preserved the bodies of his ancestors and 
relatives. These had been dried by the fire, so as 
to free them from corruption, and afterwards 
wrapped in mantles of cotton, richly wrought and 
interwoven with pearls and jewels of gold, and 
with certain stones held precious by the natives. 
They were then hung about the hall with cords of 
cotton, and regarded with great reverence, if not a 
species of religious devotion. 

Among the sons of the cacique, the eldest was 
of a lofty and generous spirit, and distinguished 
above the rest by his suj^erior intelligence and 
sagacity. Perceiving, says old Peter Martyr, that 
the Spaniards were a a wandering kind of men, 
living only by shifts and spoil," he sought to gain 
favour for himself and family by gratifying their 
avarice. He gave Vasco Nunez and Colmenares, 
therefore, 4°°° ounces of gold, wrought into 
various ornaments, together with sixty slaves, 
being captives that he had taken in the wars. 
Vasco Nunez ordered one fifth of the gold to be 
weighed out and set apart for the crown, and the 
rest to be shared among his followers. 

The division of the gold took place in the porch 
of the dwelling of Comagre, in the presence of the 
youthful cacique who had made the gift. As the 
Spaniards were weighing it out, a violent quarrel 
arose among them as to the size and value of the 
pieces which fell to their respective shares. The 
high-minded savage was disgusted at this sordid 
brawl among beings whom he had regarded with 



i5n.J VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. l5y 

such reverence. Jn the first impulse of his disdain 
he struck the scales with his fist, and scattered 
the glittering gold ahout the porch. Before the 
strangers could recover from their astonishment 
at this sudden act, he thus addressed them : «Why 
should you quarrel for such a trifle? If this gold 
is indeed so precious in your eyes, that for it 
alone you abandon your homes, invade the peace- 
ful lands of others, and expose yourselves to such 
sufferings and perils, I will tell you of a region 
where you may gratify your wishes to the ut- 
most. Behold those lofty mountains, » continued 
he, pointing to the south; « beyond these lies a 
mighty sea, which may by discerned from their 
summit. It is navigated by people who have 
vessels almost as large as yours, and furnished, like 
them, with sails and oars. All the streams which 
flow down the southern side of those mountains 
into that sea abound in gold; and the kings who 
reign upon its borders eat and drink out of golden 
vessels. Gold, in fact, is as plentiful and common 
among those people of the south as iron is among 
vou Spaniards." 

Struck with this intelligence, Vasco Nunez in- 
quired eagerly as to the means of penetrating to 
this sea and to the opulent regions on its shores. 
«The task,); replied the prince, « is difficult and 
dangerous. You must pass through the territories 
of many powerful caciques, who will oppose you 
with hosts of warriors. Some parts of the moun- 
tains are infested by fierce and cruel cannibals, a 



1 58 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5ii. 

wandering lawless race: but, above all, you will 
have to encounter the great cacique Tubanama, 
whose territories are at the distance of six days' 
journey, and more rich in gold than any other 
province; this cacique will be sure to come forth 
against you with a mighty force. To accomplish 
your enterprise, therefore, will require at least a 
thousand men armed like those who follow you.» 

The youthful cacique gave him further informa- 
tion on the subject, collected from various cap- 
tives whom he had taken in battle, and from one 
ol his own nation, who had been for a longtime 
in captivity to Tubanama, the powerful cacique of 
the golden realm. The prince, moreover, offered 
to prove the sincerity of his words by accompany- 
ing Vasco Nunez, in any expedition to those parts, 
at the head of his father's warriors. 

Such was the first intimation received by Vasco 
Nunez of the Pacific Ocean and its golden realms, 
and it had an immediate effect upon his whole 
character and conduct. This hitherto wandering 
and desperate man had now an enterprise opened 
to his ambition, which, if accomplished, would 
elevate him to fame and fortune, and entitle him 
to rank among the great captains and discoverers 
of the earth. Henceforth the discovery of the sea 
beyond the mountains was the great object of his 
thoughts, and his whole spirit seemed roused and 
ennobled by the idea. 

He hastened his return to Darien, to make the 
necessary preparations for this splendid enter- 



■ 5 1 1 .] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 1^9 

prise. Before departing from the province of Co- 
magre he baptised that cacique by the name of 
Don Carlos, and performed the same ceremony 
upon his sons and several of his subjects; — thus 
singularly did avariceand religion gohand in hand 
in the conduct of the Spanish discoverers. 

Scarcely had Vasco Nunez returned to Darien 
when the Regidor Valdivia arrived there from His- 
paniola, but with no more provisions than could 
be brought in his small caravel. These were soon 
consumed, and the general scarcity continued. It 
was heightened also bv a violent tempest of thun- 
der, lightning, and rain, which brought such tor- 
rents from the mountains that the river swelled 
and overflowed its banks, laying waste all the ad- 
jacent fields that had been cultivated. In this 
extremity Vasco Nunez despatched Valdivia a se- 
cond time to Hispaniola for provisions. Animated 
also bv the loftier views of his present ambition, 
lie wrote to Don Diego ( olumbus, who governed 
at San Domingo, informing him of the intelligence 
he had received of a great sea and opulent realms 
beyond the mountains, and entreating him to use 
his influence with the king that one thousand men 
might be immediately furnished him for the prose- 
cution of so grand a discovery. He sent him also 
the amount of fifteen thousand crowns in gold, to 
be remitted to the king as the royal fifths of what 
had already been collected under his jurisdiction. 
Many of his followers, likewise, forwarded sums of 
gold to be remitted to their creditors in Spain, 



160 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 
In the mean time, Vasco Nunez prayed the admiral 
to yield him prompt succour to enable him to 
keep his footing- in the land, representing- the 
difficulty he had in maintaining, Avith a mere 
handful of men, so vast a country in a state of 
subjection. 



CHAPTER IV. 



EXPEDITION OF VASCO NUNEZ IN QUEST OF THE 
GOLDEN TEMPLE OF DOBAYBA. — (l5l2.) 

While Vasco Nunez awaited the result of this 
mission of Valdivia, his active disposition prompt- 
ed him to undertake foraging excursions into the 
surrounding country. 

Among various rumours of golden realms in the 
interior of this unknown land, was one concern- 
ing a province called Dobayba, situated about 
forty leagues distant, on the banks of a great river 
which emptied itself, by several mouths, into a 
corner of the Gulf of Uraba. 

This province derived its name, according to 
Indian tradition, from a mighty female of the olden 
time, the mother of the god who created the sun 
and moon and all good things. She had power 
over the elements, sending thunder and lightning to 
lay waste the lands of those who displeased her, 
but showering down fertility and abundance upon 
the possessions of her faithful worshippers. Others 



IJI2] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. I (] I 

described her as having been an Indian princess, 
who once reigned amongst the mountains of Do- 
bavba, and was renowned throughout the land for 
her supernatural power and wisdom. After her 
death, divine honours were paid her, and a great 
temple was erected for her worship. Hither the 
natives repaired from far and near, on a kind of 
pilgrimage, bearing offerings of their most valua- 
ble effects. The caciques who ruled over distant 
territories also sent golden tributes, at certain 
times of the year, to be deposited in this temple, 
and slaves to be sacrificed at its shrine. At one 
time, it was added, this worship fell into disuse, 
the pilgrimages were discontinued, and the ca- 
ciques neglected to send their tributes ; where- 
upon the deitv, as a punishment, inflicted a 
drought upon the country. The springs and foun- 
tains failed, the rivers were dried up; the inhabit- 
ants of the mountains were obliged to descend into 
the plains, where they digged pits and wells, but 
these likewise failing, a great part of the nations 
perished with thirst. The remainder hastened to 
propitiate the deity by tributes and sacrifices, and 
thus succeeded in averting her displeasure. In 
consequence of offerings of the kind, made for 
generations from all parts of the country, the 
temple was said to be filled with treasure, and its 
walls to be covered with golden gifts. 1 In addition 
to the tale of this temple, the Indians gave marvel- 
lous accounts of the general wealth of this pro- 

1 I>. Martyr, decad. 3. c. vi. Idem, d. j. c. x. 

7- 



lC)2 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 

vince, declaring that it abounded with mines of 
gold, the veins of which reached from the dwelling 
of the cacique to the borders of his dominions. 

To penetrate to this territory, and above all to 
secure the treasures of the golden temple, was an 
enterprise suited to the adventurous spirit of the 
Spaniards. Vasco Nunez chose one hundred and 
seventy of his hardiest men for the purpose. Em- 
barking them in two brigantines and a number of 
canoes, he set sail from Darien, and, after standing 
ahout nine leagues to the east, came to the mouth 
of the Rio Grande de San Juan, or the Great 
River of St John, also called the Atrato, which is 
since ascertained to be one of the branches of the 
river Darien. Here he detached Rodrigo Enri- 
cmez de Colmenares with one third of his forces 
to explore the stream, while he himself proceeded 
with the residue to another branch of the river, 
which he was told flowed from the province of 
Dobayba, and which he ascended, flushed with 
sanguine expectations. 1 

1 In recording this expedition, the author has followed the old 
Spanish narratives, written when the face of the country was but 
little known, and he was much perplexed to reconcile the accounts 
given of numerous streams with the rivers laid down on modern 
maps. Hy a clear and judicious explanation, given in the recent 
•work of Don Manuel Josef Quintana, it appears that the differ- 
ent streams explored by Vasco Nunez and Colmenares were all 
branches of one grand river, which, descending from the moun- 
tains of the interior, winds about in crystal streams among the 
plains and morasses bordering the bottom of the great gulf of Da- 
rien, and discharges itself by various mouths into the gulf. In 



]5i2.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 1 63 

His old enemy Zemaco, the cacique of Darien, 
however, bad discovered the object of his expe- 
dition, and had taken measures to disappoint it : 
repairing to the province of Dobayba, he had pre- 
vailed upon its cacique to retire at the approach of 
the Spaniards, leaving his country deserted. 

Vasco Nunez found a village situated in a 
marshy neighbourhood, on the banks of the river, 
and mistook it for the residence of the cacique : 
it was silent and abandoned. There was not an 
Indian to be met with from whom he could obtain 
any information about the country, or who could 
guide him to the golden temple. He was disap- 
pointed, also, in his hopes of obtaining a supply of 
provisions, but he found weapons of various kinds 
hanging in the deserted houses, and gathered 
jewels and pieces of gold to the value of seven 
thousand castellanos. Discouraged by the savage 
look of the surrounding wilderness, which was 
perplexed by deep morasses, and having no guides 
to aid him in exploring it, he put all the booty he 
had collected into two large canoes, and made his 
way back to the Gulf of Uraba. Here he was as- 
sailed by a violent tempest which nearly wrecked 
his two brigantines, and obliged him to throw a 
great part of their cargoes overboard. The two 
canoes containing the booty were swallowed up 
by the raging sea, and all their crews perished. 

fact, the stream which ran by the infant city of Santa Maria de la 
Antigua was but one of its branches, a fact entirely unknown to 
Vasco Nunez and his companions. 



1 64 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 

Thus baffled and tempest-tost, Vasco Nunez at 
length succeeded in getting - into what was termed 
the Grand River, which he ascended, and rejoined 
Colmenares and his detachment. They now ex- 
tended their excursions up a stream which emptied 
itself into the Grand River, and which, from the 
dark hue of its waters, they called Rio Negro, or 
the black river. They also explored certain other 
tributary streams, branehing'from it, though not 
without occasional skirmishes with the natives. 

Ascending one of these minor rivers with a part 
of his men, Vasco Nunez came to the territories 
of a cacique named Abibevba, who reigned over a 
region of marshes and shallow lakes. The habita- 
tions of the natives were built amidst the branches 
of immense and lofty trees. They were large 
enough to contain whole family connexions, and 
Avere constructed partly of wood, partly of a kind 
of wicker-work, combining strength and pliability, 
and yielding uninjured to the motion of the 
branches when agitated by the wind. The inha- 
bitants ascended to them, with great agility, by 
liglit ladders, formed of great reeds split through 
the middle, for the reeds on this coast grow to the 
thickness of a man's body. These ladders they 
drew up after them at night, or in case of attack. 
These habitations were well stocked with provi- 
sions; but the fermented beverages, of which these 
people had always a supply, were buried in vessels 
in the earth, at the foot of the tree, lest they should 
be rendered turbid by the rocking of the houses. 



1012. J VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 1 65 

Close bv, also, were the canoes with winch they 
navigated the rivers and ponds of their marshy 
country, and followed their main occupation of 
fishing. 

On the approach of the Spaniards, the Indians 
took refuge in their tree-built castles, and drew 
up the ladders. The former called upon them to 
descend and to fear nothing-. Upon this the cacique 
replied, entreating that he might not be molested, 
seeing he had done them no injury. They threat- 
ened, unless he came down, to fell the trees, or to 
set fire to them and burn him and his wives and 
children. The cacique was disposed to consent, 
but was prevented by the entreaties of his people. 
Upon this the Spaniards prepared to hew down 
the trees, but were assailed by showers of stones. 
They covered themselves however with their buck- 
lers, assailed the trees vigorously with their 
hatchets, and soon compelled the inhabitants to 
capitulate. The cacique descended with his wife 
and two of his children. The first demand of the 
Spaniards was for gold. He assured them he had 
none; for, having no need of it, he had never- 
made it an object of his search. Being importun- 
ed, however, he assured them that if he were per- 
mitted to repair to certain mountains at a distance, 
he would in a few days return, and bring them 
what they desired. They permitted him to depart, 
retaining his wife and children as hostages, but 
they saw no more of the cacique. After remaining 
here a few days, and regaling on the provisions 



l66 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 

which they found in abundance, they continued 
their foraging expeditions, often opposed by the 
bold and warlike natives, and suffering occasional 
loss, but inflicting great havoc on their opposers. 
Having thus overrun a considerable extent of 
country, and no grand object presenting to lure 
him on to further enterprise, Vasco Nunez at 
length returned to Darien with the spoils and 
captives he had taken, leaving Bartolome Hurtado 
with thirty men in an Indian village on tha Rio 
Negro, or Black River, to bold the country in sub- 
jection. Thus terminated the first expedition in 
quest of the golden temple Dobayba, which, for 
some time, continued to be a favourite object of 
enterprise among the adventurers of Darien. 



CHAPTER V. 

DISASTER ON THE BLACK RIVER. INDIAN PLOT 

AGAINST DARIEN. 

Bartolome Hurtado, being left to his own dis- 
cretion on the banks of the Black River, occupied 
himself occasionally in hunting the scattered na- 
tives who straggled about the surrounding forests. 
Having in this way picked up twenty-four captives, 
he put them on board of a large canoe, like so 
much live stock, to be transported to Darien and 
sold as slaves. Twenty of his followers, who 



i5i2.] VASCO M SEZ DE BALBOA. 167 

were infirm either from wounds or the diseases of 
the climate, embarked also in the canoe, so that 
only ten men remained with Hurtado. 

The great canoe, thus heavily freighted, de- 
scended the Black River slowly, between hanks 
overhung with forests. Zeuiaco, the indefatigable 
cacique of Darien, was on the watch, and waylaid 
the ark. with four canoes filled with warriors, armed 
with war-clubs and lances hardened in the fire. 
The Spaniards, being sick, could make but feeble 
resistance; some were massacred, others leaped 
into the river and were drowned. Two only es- 
caped, by clinging to two trunks of trees that 
were floating down the river, and covering them- 
selves with the branches. Reaching the shore in 
safety, they returned to Bartolome Hurtado with 
the tragical tidings of the death of his followers. 
Hurtado was so disheartened by the news, and 
so dismayed at his own helpless situation, in the 
midst of a hostile country, that he resolved to 
abandon the fatal shores of the Rlack River, and re- 
turn to Darien. He was quickened in this resolu- 
tion by receiving intimation of a conspiracy form- 
ing among the natives. The implacable Zemaco 
had drawn four other caciques into a secret plan 
to assemble their vassals and make a sudden at- 
tack upon Darien : Hurtado hastened with the 
remnant of his followers to carry tidings to the 
settlement of this conspiracy. Many of the in- 
habitants were alarmed at his intelligence ; others 
treated it as a false rumour of the Indians, and no 



J 68 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [l5l2. 
preparations were made against what might be a 
mere imaginary danger. 

Fortunately for the Spaniards, among the female 
captives owned by Vasco Nunez was an Indian 
damsel named Fulvia ; to whom, in consequence 
of her beauty, he had shown great favour, and 
who had become strongly attached to him. She 
had a brother among the warriors of Zemaco, who 
often visiled her in secret. In one of his visits, 
he informed her that on a certain night the settle- 
ment would be attacked and every Spaniard de- 
stroyed. He charged her, therefore, to hide her- 
self that night in a certain place until he should 
come to her aid, lest she should be slain in the 
confusion of the massacre. 

When her brother was gone, a violent struggle 
took place in the bosom of the Indian girl, between 
her feeling for her family and her people, and her 
affection for Vasco Nunez. The latter at length 
prevailed, and she revealed all that had been 
told to her. The Spaniard prevailed upon her to 
send for her brother, under pretence of aiding her 
to escape. Having him in his power, he extorted 
from him all that he knew of the designs of the 
enemy. His confessions showed what imminent 
danger had been lurking round Vasco Nunez in 
his most unsuspecting moments. The prisoner 
informed him that he had been one of forty In- 
dians sent some time before by the cacique Zemaco 
to Vasco Nunez, in seeming friendship, to be 
employed by him in cultivating the fields adjacent 



i5l2.] YASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 169 

to the settlement. They had secret orders, how- 
ever, to take an opportunity, when the Spaniard 
should come forth to inspect their work, to set 
upon him in an unguarded moment, and de- 
stroy him. Fortunately, Yasco Nufiez always 
visited the fields mounted on his war-horse, and 
armed with lance and target. The Indians were 
therefore so awed by his martial appearance, and 
by the terrible animal he bestrode, that they dared 
not attack him. 

Foiled in this and other attempts of the kind, 
Zemaco resorted to the conspiracy with which the 
settlement was now menaced. Five caciques had 
joined in the confederacy : they had prepared a 
hundred canoes ; amassed provisions for an army ; 
and concerted to assemble five thousand picked 
warriors at a certain time and place; with these 
they were to make an attack on the settlement by- 
land and water, in the middle of the night, and to 
slaughter every Spaniard. 

Having learnt where the confederate chiefs were 
to be found, and where they had deposited their 
provisions, Vasco Nunez chose seventy of his best 
men well armed, and made a circuit by land, 
while Colmenares, with sixty men, sallied forth 
secretly in four canoes, guided by the Indian pri- 
soner. In this way they surprised the general of 
the Indian army and several of the principal con- 
federates, and got possession of all their provisions, 
though they failed to capture the formidable 
Zemaco. The Indian general was shot to death 

8 



170 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. -[i5i2. 

with arrows, and the leaders of the conspiracy 
were hanged in presence of their captive followers. 
The defeat of this deep-laid plan, and the pu- 
nishment of its devisers, spread terror throughout 
the neighbouring provinces, and prevented any- 
further attempt at hostilities. Vasco Nunez, how- 
ever, caused a strong fortress of wood to be im- 
mediately erected, to guard against any future 
assaults of the savages. 



CHAPTER VI. 



FURTHER FACTIONS IN THE COLONY. ARRO- 
GANCE OF ALONZO PEREZ AND THE BACHELOR 
CORRAL. 

A considerable time had now elapsed since the 
departure of Valdivia for Hispaniola, yet no tidings 
had been received from him. Many began to fear 
that some disaster had befallen him ; while others 
insinuated that it was possible both he and Zamu- 
dio might have neglected the objects of their mis- 
sion, and, having appropriated to their own use 
the gold with which they had been entrusted, aban- 
doned the colony to its fate. 

Vasco Nunez himself was harassed by these 
surmises; and by the dread lest the Bachelor 
Enciso should succeed in prejudicing the mind of 
his sovereign against him. Impatient of this state 
of anxious suspense, he determined to repair to 



i5i2.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. I 7 I 

Spain, to communicate in person all that he had 
heard concerning- the Southern Sea, and to ask for 
the troops necessary for its discovery. 

Every one, however, both friend and foe, ex- 
claimed against such a measure, representing his 
presence as indispensable to the safety of the 
colony, from his great talents as a commander and 
the fear entertained of him by the Indians. 

After much debate and contention, it was at 
length agreed that Juan de Cayzedo and Rodrigo 
Enriqnez de Colmenares should go in his place, 
instructed to make all necessary representations to 
the king. Letters Mere written also, containing 
the most extravagant accounts of the riches of the 
countrv, partly dictated by the sanguine hopes of 
the writers, and partly by the fables of the natives. 
The rumoured wealth of the province of Dobayba, 
and the treasures of its golden temple, were not 
forgotten; and an Indian was taken to Spain by 
the commissioners, a native of the province of 
Zenu, where gold was said to be gathered in nets 
stretched across the mountain streams. To give 
more weight to all these stories, every one con- 
tributed some portion of gold from his private 
hoard, to be presented to the king in addition to 
the amount arising from his fifths. 

Kut little time had elapsed after the departure of 
the commissioners, when new dissensions broke out 
in the colony. It was hardly to be expected that a 
fortuitous assemblage of adventurers could remain 
long tranquil during a time of suffering, under 



172 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 

rulers of questionable authority. Vasco Nunez, 
it is true, had risen by his courage and abilities ; 
but he had risen from among their ranks; he was 
in a manner of their own creation ; and they had 
not become sufficiently accustomed to him as a 
governor, to forget that he was recently but a 
mere soldier of fortune, and an absconding 
debtor. 

Their factious discontent, hoAvever, was directed 
at first against a favourite of Vasco Nunez, rather 
than against himself. He had invested Bartolome 
Hurtado, the commander of the Black River, 
with considerable authority in the colony, and the 
latter gave great offence by his oppressive conduct. 
Hurtado had particularly aggrieved by his arro- 
gance one Alonzo Perez de la Rua, a touchy cava- 
lier, jealous of his honour, who seems to have 
peculiarly possessed the sensitive punctilio of a 
Spaniard. Firing at some indignity, whether real 
or fancied, Alonzo Perez threw himself into the 
ranks of the disaffected, and was immediately 
chosen as their leader. Thus backed by a faction, 
he clamoured loudly for the punishment of Hur- 
tado ; and, finding his demands unattended to, 
threw out threats of deposing Vasco Nunez. The 
latter no sooner heard of these menaces, than, 
with his usual spirit and promptness, he seized 
upon the testy Alonzo Perez, and threw him into 
prison, to digest his indignities and cool his pas- 
sions at leisure. 

The conspirators flew to arms to liberate their 



i5i2.] \ ASCO NDJNEZ DE BALBOA. iy3 

leader. The friends of Vasco Nunez were equally 
on the alert. The two parties drew out in battle 
array in the public square, and a sanguinary con- 
flict was on the point of taking place. Fortunately 
there were some cool heads left in the colony. 
These interfered at the critical moment, repre- 
senting to the angry adversaries that, if they fought 
among themselves, and diminished their already 
scanty numbers, even the conquerors must even- 
tually fall a prey to the Indians. 

Their remonstrances had effect. A parley en- 
sued, and, after much noisy debate, a kind of 
compromise was made. Alonzo Perez was libe- 
rated, and the mutineers dispersed quietly to their 
homes. The next day, however, they were again 
in arms, and seized upon Bartolome Hurtado; 
hut after a little while were prevailed upon to set 
him free. Their factious views seemed turned to 
a higher object. They broke forth into loud 
murmurs against Vasco Nunez, complaining that 
he bad not made a fair division of the gold and 
slaves taken in the late expeditions, and threaten- 
ing to arrest him and bring him to account. Above 
all, they clamoured for an immediate distribution 
often thousand castellanos in gold, which yet re- 
mained unshared. 

Vasco Nunez understood too well the riotous 
nature of the people under him, and his own pre- 
carious hold on their obedience, to attempt to 
cope with them in this moment of turbulence. He 
shrewdly determined, therefore, to withdraw from 



174 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 

the sight of the multitude, and to leave them to 
divide the spoil among themselves, trusting to 
their own strife for his security. That very night 
he sallied forth into the country, under pretence of 
going on a hunting expedition. 

The next morning the mutineers found them- 
selves in possession of the field. Alonzo Perez, 
the pragmatical ringleader, immediately assumed 
the command, seconded by the Bachelor Corral. 
Their first measure was to seize upon the ten 
thousand castellanos, and to divide them among 
the multitude, by way of securing their own popu- 
larity. The event proved the sagacity and fore- 
thought of Vasco Nunez. Scarcely had these 
hot-headed intermeddlers entered upon the parti- 
tion of the gold, than a furious strife arose. 
Every one was dissatisfied with his share, con- 
sidering his merits entitled to peculiar recompense. 
Every attempt to appease the rabble only aug- 
mented their violence, and in their rage they swore 
that Vasco Nunez had always shown more judg- 
ment and discrimination in his distributions to 
men of merit. 

The adherents of the latter now ventured toliftup 
their voices; « Vasco Nunez,» said they, « won the 
gold by his enterprise and valour, and would have 
shared it with the brave and the deserving; but 
these men have seized upon it by factious means, 
and would squander it upon their minions. » The 
multitude, who, in fact, admired the soldier-like 
qualities of Vasco Nunez, displayed one of the 



i5i2.] VASCO SUXF.Z DE BALBOA. I 70 

customary reverses of popular feeling-. Thetouchy 
Alonzo Perez, his coadjutor the Bachelor Corral, 
and several other of the ringleaders, were seized, 
put into irons, and confined in the fortress; and 
Vasco Nunez was recalled with loud acclamations 
to the settlement. 

Mow long this pseudo-commander might have 
heen able to manage the unsteady populace, it is 
impossible to say; but just at this juncture two 
ships arrived from Hispaniola, freighted with sup- 
plies, and bringing a reinforcement of one hun- 
dred and fifty men. They brought also a com- 
mission to Vasco Nuiiez, signed by Miguel de 
Pasamonte, the royal treasurer of Hispaniola (to 
whom he had sent a private present of gold), con- 
stituting him captain-general of the colony. It is 
doubtful whether Pasamonte possessed the power 
to confer such a commission, though it is affirmed 
that the king had clothed him with it, as a kind of 
check upon the authority of the admiral Don 
Diego Columbus, then governor of Hispaniola, of 
whose extensive sway in the new world the 
monarch was secretly jealous. At any rate, the 
treasurer appears to have acted in full confidence 
of the ultimate approbation of his sovereign. 

Vasco Nunez was rejoiced at receiving a com- 
mission which clothed him with at least the sem- 
blance of royal sanction. Feeling more assured 
in his situation, and being naturally of a generous 
and forgiving temper, he was easily prevailed upon, 
in his moment of exultation, to release and pardon 



176 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [ 1 5 1 3 . 

Alonzo Perez, the Bachelor Corral, and the other 
ringleaders of the late commotions; and for a time 
the feuds and factions of this petty community 
were lulled to repose. 



CHAPTER VII. 



VASGO NUNEZ DETERMINES TO SEEK THE SEA 
REYOND THE MOUNTAINS. (l5l3.) 

The temporary triumph of Vasco Nunez was 
soon overcast by tidings received from Spain. His 
late colleague, the alcalde Zamudio, wrote him 
word, that the Bachelor Enciso had carried his 
complaints to the foot of the throne, and succeeded 
in rousing the indignation of the king, and had ob- 
tained a sentence in his favour, condemning Vasco 
Nunez in costs and damages. Zamudio informed 
him in addition, that he would be immediately 
summoned to repair to Spain, and answer in per- 
son the criminal charges advanced against him on 
account of the harsh treatment and probable death 
of the unfortunate Nicuesa. 

Vasco Nunez was at first stunned by this intel- 
ligence, which seemed at one blow to annihilate 
all his hopes and fortunes. He was a man, how- 
ever, of prompt decision and intrepid spirit. The 
information received from Spain was private and 
informal ; no order had yet arrived from the king; 
he was still master of his actions, and had con- 



1 5i 3-] VASCO NUNEZ DE BAEBtfA. 177 

troul over the colony. One brilliant achievement 
might atone for all the past, and fix him in the 
favour of the monarch. Such an achievement was 
within his reach — the discovery of the southern 
sea. It is true, a thousand soldiers had been re- 
quired for the expedition, but were he to wait for 
their arrival from Spain, his day of grace would 
be past. It was a desperate thing- to undertake 
the task with the handful of men at his command, 
but the circumstances of the case were desperate. 
Fame, fortune, life itself, depended upon the suc- 
cessful and the prompt execution of the enterprise. 
To linger was to be lost. 

Vasco Nunez looked round upon the crew of 
daring and reckless adventurers that formed the 
colony, and chose one hundred and ninety of the 
most resolute, vigorous, and devoted to his person. 
These he armed with swords, targets, cross-bows, 
and arquehusses. He did not conceal from them 
the danger of the enterprise into which he was 
about to lead them ; but the spirit of these Spanish 
adventurers was always roused by the idea of 
perilous and extravagant exploits. To aid his 
slender forces, he took with him a number of 
bloodhounds, which had been found to be terrific 
allies in Indian warfare. 

The Spanish writers make particular mention of 
one of those animals, named Leoncico, which was 
a constant companion, and as it were body-guard 
of Vasco Nunez, and describe him as minutely as 
they would a favourite warrior. He was of a 



178 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

middle size, but immensely strong: of a dull yel- 
low or reddish colour, with a black muzzle, and 
his body was scarred all over with wounds received 
in innumerable battles with the Indians. Vasco 
Nunez always took him on his expeditions, and 
sometimes lent him to others, receiving for his 
services the same share of booty allotted to an 
armed man. In this way he gained by him in the 
course of his campaigns upwards of a thousand 
crowns. The Indians, it is said, had conceived 
such terror of this animal, that the very sight 
of him was sufficient to put a host of them to 
flight. 1 

In addition to these forces, Vasco Nunez took 
with him a number of the Indians of Darien, whom 
he had won to him by kindness, and whose ser- 
vices were important, from their knowledge of the 
wilderness, and of the habits and resources of 
savage life. Such was the motley armament that 
set forth from the little colony of Darien, under 
the guidance of a daring, if not desperate com- 
mander, in quest of the great Pacific Ocean. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EXPEDITION" IN QUEST OF THE SOUTHERN SEA. 

It was on the first of September that Vasco Nunez 
embarked with his followers in a brigantine and 

' Ovicdo, Hist. Indies, p. a. c. 3. MS. 



loi3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 1 79 

nine large canoes or pirogues, followed by the 
cheers and {food wishes of those who remained at 
the settlement. Standing to the northwestward, 
he arrived without accident at Coyba, the domi- 
nion of the cacique Careta, whose daughter he had 
received as a pledge of amity. That Indian beauty 
had acquired a great influence over Vasco Nunez, 
and appears to have cemented his friendship with 
her father and her people. He was received by the 
cacique with open arms,and furnished with guides 
and warriors to aid him in his enterprise. 

Vasco Nunez left about half of his men at 
Coyba to guard the brigantine and canoes, while 
he should penetrate the wilderness with the resi- 
due. The importance of his present expedition, 
not merely as affecting his own fortunes, but as it 
were unfolding a mighty secret of nature, seems 
to have impressed itself upon his spirit, and to 
have given correspondent solemnity to his con- 
duct. Before setting out upon his march, he 
caused mass to be performed, and offered up 
prayers to God for the success of his perilous un- 
dertaking. 

It was on the sixth of September, that he struck 
off for the mountains. The march was difficult 
and toilsome in the extreme. The Spaniards, en- 
cumbered with the weight of their armour and 
weapons, and oppressed by the heat of a tropical 
climate, were obliged to climb rocky precipices, 
and to struggle through close and tangled forests. 
Their Indian allies aided them by carrying their 



l8o SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

ammunition and provisions, and by guiding them 
to the most practicable paths. 

On the eighth of September they arrived at the 
village of Ponca, the ancient enemy of Careta. 
The village was lifeless and abandoned ; the ca- 
cique and his people had fled to the fastnesses of 
the mountains. The Spaniards remained here 
several days to recruit the health of some of their 
number who had fallen ill. It was necessary also 
to procure guides acquainted with the mountain 
wilderness they were approaching. The retreat 
of Ponca was at length discovered, and he was 
prevailed upon, though reluctantly, to come to 
Vasco Nunez. The latter had a peculiar facility 
in winning the confidence and friendship of the 
natives. The cacique was soon so captivated by 
his kindness that he revealed to him in secret all 
he knew of the natural riches of the country. 
He assured him of the truth of what had been 
told him about a great pechry or sea beyond the 
mountains, and gave him several ornaments in- 
geniously wrought of fine gold, which had been 
brought from the countries upon its borders. 
He told him, moreover, that when he had at- 
tained the summit of a lofty ridge, to which he 
pointed, and which seemed to rise up to the 
skies, he would behold that sea spread out far be- 
low him. 

Animated by the accounts, Vasco Nunez pro- 
cured fresh guides from the cacique, and prepared 
to ascend the mountains. Numbers of his men 



i 5 1 3] VASCO NUSEZ DE BALBOA. I S I 

having fallen ill from fatigue and the heat of the 
climate, he ordered them to return slowly to 
Tovha, taking with him none but such as were in 
robust and vigorous health. 

< >n the 20th of September, he again set forward 
through a broken rocky country, covered with a 
matted forest, and intersected by deep and turbu- 
lent streams,' many of which it was necessary to 
cross upon rafts. 

So toilsome was the journey, that in four days 
they did not advance above ten leagues, and in 
the mean time they suffered excessively from hun- 
ger. At the end of this time they arrived at the 
province of a warlike cacique, named Quaraqua, 
who was at war with Ponca. 

fkaiing that a band of strangers were entering 
his territories, guided by the subjects of his inve- 
terate foe, the cacique took the field with a large 
number of warriors, some armed Avith bows and 
arrows, others with long spears, or with double- 
handed maces of palm-wood, almost as heavy and 
hard as iron. Seeing the inconsiderable number 
of the Spaniards, they set upon them with furious 
yells, thinking to overcome them in an instant. 
The first discharge of fire-arms, however, struck 
thein with dismay. They thought they were con- 
tending with demons who vomited forth thunder 
and lightning, especially when they saw their 
companions fall bleeding and dead beside them, 
without reeeiving any apparent blow. They 
took in headlong flight, and were hotly pursued 



1 82 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

by the Spaniards and their blood-hounds. Some 
were transfixed with lances, others hewn down 
with swords, and many were torn to pieces by the 
dogs, so that Quaraqua and six hundred of his 
warriors were left dead upon the field. 

A brother of the cacique and several chiefs were 
taken prisoners. They were clad in robes of white 
cotton. Either from their effeminate dress, or 
from the accusations of their enemies, the Spa- 
niards were induced to consider them guilty of 
unnatural crimes, and, in their abhorrence and 
disgust, gave them to be torn to pieces by the 
blood-hounds. 1 

It is also affirmed, that among the prisoners 
were several negroes, who had been slaves to the 
cacique. The Spaniards, we are told, were in- 
formed by the other captives, that these black 
men came from a region at no great distance, 
where there was a people of that colour, with 
whom they were frequently at war. « These, » 
adds the Spanish writer, « were the first negroes 
ever found in the New World, and I believe no 
others have since been discovered. 2 

' Herrcra, Hist. Ind. d. 1, 1. x, c. 1. 

2 Peter Martyr, in his third Decade, makes mention of these ne- 
groes in the following words: — « About two days' journey distant 
from Quaraqua is a region inhabited only by black moors, ex- 
ceeding fierce and cruel. It is supposed that in time past certain 
black moors sailed thither out of Ethiopia, to rob, and that by 
shipwreck, or some other chance, they were driven to these moun- 
tains." As Martyr lived and wrote at the time, he of course re- 
lated the mere rumour of the day, which all subsequent accounts 



i5.3] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. l83 

After this sanguinary triumph, the Spaniards 
marched to the village of Quaraqua, where they 
found considerable booty in gold and jewels. Of 
this Vasco Nunez reserved one-fifth for the crown, 
and shared the rest liberally among- his followers. 
The village was at the foot of the last mountain 
that remained for them to climb ; several of the 
Spaniards, however, were so disabled by the 
wounds they had received in battle, or so exhaust- 
ed by the fatigue and hunger they had endured, 
that they were unable to proceed. They were 
obliged therefore reluctantly to remain in the vil- 
lage, within sight of the mountain-top that com- 
manded the long-sought prospect. Vasco Nunez 
selected fresh guides from among his prisoners, 
who were natives of the province, and sent back 
the subjects of Ponca. Of the band of Spaniards 
who had set out with him. in this enterprise, 
sixty-seven alone remained in sufficient health and 
spirits for this last effort. These he ordered to 
retire early to repose, that they might be ready to 
set off at the cool and fresh hour of day-break, so 
as to reach the summit of the mountain before the 
noon-tide heat. 

have disproved. The other historians who mentioned the cir- 
cumstance, have probably repeated it from him. It must 
have risen from some misrepresentation, and is not entitled to 
credit. 



1 8 I SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

CHAPTER IX. 

DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 

The day had scarce dawned, when Vasco Nuilez 
and his followers set forth from the Indian village 
and began to climb the height. It was a severe 
and rugged toil for men so wayworn ; but they 
were filled with new ardour at the idea of the tri- 
umphant scene that was so soon to repay them for 
all their hardships. 

About ten o'clock in the morning they emerged 
from the thick forests through which they had 
hitherto struggled, and arrived at a lofty and airy 
region of the mountain. The bald summit alone 
remained to he ascended; and their guides pointed 
to a moderate eminence from which they said the 
southern sea was visible. 

Upon this Vasco Nunez commanded his follow- 
ers to halt, and that no man should stir from his 
place. Then, with a palpitating heart, he ascend- 
ed alone the bare mountain-top. On reaching 
the summit, the long-desired prospect burst upon 
his view. It was as if a new world were unfolded 
to him, separated from all hitherto known by this 
mighty barrier of mountains. Below him ex- 
tended a vast chaos of rock and forest, and green 
savannahs and wandering streams, while at a dis- 
tance the waters of the promised ocean glittered 
in the morning sun. 



I*5l3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 1 85 

At this glorious prospect Vasco Nunez sank up- 
on his knees, and poured out thanks to God for 
being the first European to whom it was given to 
make that great discovery. He then called his 
people to ascend : « Behold, my friends," said he, 
«that glorious sight which we have so much de- 
sired. Let us give thanks to God that he has 
granted us this great honour and advantage. Let 
us pray to him to guide and aid us to conquer 
the sea and land which we have discovered, and 
which Christian has never entered to preach the 
holy doctrine of the Evangelists. As to your- 
selves, be as you have hitherto been, faithful and 
true to me, and by the favour of Christ you 
will become the richest Spaniards that have ever 
come to the Indies ; you will render the great- 
est services to your king that ever vassal ren- 
dered to his lord ; and you will have the eternal 
glory and advantage of all that is here discovered, 
conquered, and converted to our holy Catholic 
faith.» 

The Spaniards answered this speech by em- 
bracing Vasco Nunez and promising to follow 
him to death. Among them was a priest, named 
Andres de Vara, who lifted up his voice and 
chaunted Te Deum laudamus — the usual anthem 
of Spanish discoverers. The rest kneeling down, 
joined in the strain with pious enthusiasm and 
tears of joy ; and never did a more sincere oblation 
rise to the Deity from a sanctified altar, than from 
that wild mountain summit. It was indeed one 

8. 



1 86 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

of the most sublime discoveries that had yet been 
made in the New World, and must have opened 
a boundless field of conjecture to the wondering 
Spaniards. The imagination delights to picture 
forth the splendid confusion of their thoughts. 
Was this the great Indian ocean, studded with 
precious islands, abounding in gold, in gems, and 
spices, and bordered by the gorgeous cities and 
wealthy marts of the East? or was it some lonely 
sea locked up in the embraces of savage unculti- 
vated continents, and never traversed by a bark, 
excepting the light pirogue of the savage? The 
latter could hardly be the case, for the natives had 
told the Spaniards of golden realms, and popu- 
lous and powerful and luxurious nations upon its 
shores. Perhaps it might be bordered by various 
people, civilized in fact, though differing from 
Europe in their civilization; who might have pe- 
culiar laws and customs and arts and sciences; 
who might form, as it were, a world of their own, 
intercommuning by this mighty sea, and carrying 
on commerce between their own islands and con- 
tinents; but who might exist in total ignorance 
and independence of the other hemisphere. 

Such may naturally have been the ideas sug- 
gested by the sight of this unknown ocean. It 
was the prevalent belief of the Spaniards, how- 
ever, that they were the first Christians who had 
made the discovery. Vasco Nunez, therefore, 
called upon all present to witness that he took 
possession of that sea, its islands, and surround- 



i5i3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 187 

ing lnii.l-. in tlit; name of the sovereignsof Castile, 
and tlif notary o£ the expedition made a testimo- 
nial of the same, to which all present, to the num- 
ber of sixty-seven men, signed their names. He 
then caused a fair and tall tree to be cut down and 
wrought into a cross, which was elevated on the 
spot from whence he had first beheld the sea. A 
mound of stones was likewise piled up to serve 
as a monument, and the names of the Castilian 
sovereigns were carved on the neighbouring trees. 
The Indians beheld all these ceremonials and re- 
joicings in silent wonder, and, while they aided to 
erect the cross and pile up the rnound of stones, 
marvelled exceedingly at the meaning of these 
monuments, little thinking that they marked the 
subjugation of their land. 

The memorable event here recorded took place 
on the 26th of September, i5i3; so that the Spa- 
niards had spent twenty days in performing the 
journey from the province of Careta to the sum- 
mit of the mountain, a distance which at present, 
it is said, does not require more than six days' 
travel. Indeed the isthmus in this neighbourhood 
is not more than eighteen leagues in breadth in its 
widest part, and in some places merely seven; 
but it consists of a ridge of extremely high and 
rugged mountains. When the discoverers tra- 
versed it, they had no route but the Indian paths, 
and often had to force their way amidst all kinds 
of obstacles, both from the savage country and its 
savage inhabitants. In fact, the details of this 



1 88 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5j3. 

narrative sufficiently account for the slowness of 
their progress, and present an array of difficulties 
and perils, which, as has been well observed, none 
but those «men of iron» could have subdued and 
overcome. 1 



CHAPTER X. 



VASCO NUNEZ MARCHES TO THE SHORES OF THE 
SOUTH SEA. (l5l3.) 

Having taken possession of the Pacific Ocean 
and all its realms from the summit of the moun- 
tain, Vasco Nunez now descended with his little 
band, to seek the regions of reputed wealth upon 
its shores. He had not proceeded far when he 
came to the province of a warlike cacique, named 
Cheapes, who, issuing forth at the head of his 
warriors, looked with scorn upon the scanty num- 
ber of straggling Spaniards, and forbade them to 
set foot within his territories. Vasco Nunez de- 
pended for safety upon his power of striking terror 
into the ignorant savages. Ordering his arque- 
busiers to the front, he poured a volley into the 
enemy, and then let loose the bloodhounds. The 
flash and noise of the fire-arms, and the sulphure- 
ous smoke which was carried by the wind among 
the Indians, overwhelmed them with dismay. Some 

1 Vidas de Espanoles Celebres, por Don Manuel Josef Quin- 
tana. Tom. ii. p. /\o. 



l5r3.] VASCO NT-'NEZ DE BALBOA. 189 

fell down in a panic as though they had heen 
struck by thunderbolts, the rest betook themselves 
to headlong flight. 

Vasco Nunez commanded his men to refrain 
from needless slaughter. He made many prisoners, 
and on arriving at the village, sent some of them 
in search of their cacique, accompanied by several 
of his Indian guides. The latter informed Cheapes 
of the supernatural power of the Spaniards, as- 
suring him that they exterminated with thunder 
and lightning all who dared to oppose them, but 
loaded all such as submitted to them -with bene- 
fits. They advised him, therefore, to throw him- 
self upon their mercy and seek their friendship. 

The cacique listened to their advice, and came 
trembling to the Spaniards, bringing with him 
five hundred pounds weight of wrought gold as a 
peace-offering, for he had already learnt the value 
they set upon that metal. Vasco Nunez received 
him with great kindness, and graciously accepted 
his gold, for which he gave him beads, hawks'- 
bells, and looking-glasses, making him in his own 
conceit the richest potentate on that side of the 
mountains. 

Friendship beingthus established between them, 
Vasco Nunez remained at the village for a few 
days, sending back the guides who had accom- 
panied him fromQuaraqua, and ordering his peo- 
ple whom he had left at that place to rejoin him. 
In the meantime, he sent out three scouting par- 
ties of twelve men each, under Francisco Pizarro, 



19O SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

Juan de Escaray, and Alonzo Martin de Don Be- 
nito, to explore the surrounding country and dis- 
cover the best route to the sea. Alonzo Martin 
was the most successful. After two days' journey, 
he came to a beach, where he found two large ca- 
noes lying high and dry, without any water being 
in sight. While the Spaniards were regarding 
these canoes, and wondering why they should be 
so far on land, the tide, which rises to a great 
height on that coast, came rapidly in and set 
them afloat; upon this, Alonzo Martin stepped 
into one of them, and called his companions to 
bear witness that he was the first European that 
embarked upon that sea; his example was'fol 
lowed by one Bias de Etienza, who called them 
likewise to testify that he was the second, 1 

We mention minute particulars of the kind, as 
being characteristic of these extraordinary enter- 
prises, and of the extraordinary people who un- 
dertook them. The humblest of these Spanish ad- 
venturers seemed actuated by a swelling and 
ambitious spirit, that rose superior at times to 
mere sordid considerations, and aspired to share 
the glory of these great discoveries. The scouting 
party having thus explored a direct route to the 
sea-coast, returned to report their success to their 
commander. 

Vasco Nunez being rejoined by his men from 
Quaraqua, now left the greater part of his fol- 

1 Herrera, Hist. hid. d. i. 1. x. c. 2. 



1 5 1 3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. <()\ 

low lis to repose and recover from their sickness 
and fatigues in the village of Cheapes; and, tak- 
ing with him twenty-six Spaniards, well armed, 
he set out, on the twenty-ninth of September, for 
the sea-coast, accompanied by the cacique and a 
number of his warriors. The thick forests, which 
covered the mountains, descended to the very 
margin of the sea, surrounding and overshadow- 
ing the wide and beautiful bays that penetrated 
far into the land. The whole coast, asfar as the eye- 
could reach, was perfectly wild, the sea without a 
sail, and both seemed never to have been under 
the dominion of civilized man. 

Vasco Nunez arrived on the borders of one of 
those vast bays, to which he gave the name of 
Saint Michael, it being discovered on that saint's 
day. The tide was out, the water was above half 
a league distant, and the intervening beach was 
covered with mud ; he seated himself, therefore, 
under the shade of the forest-trees until the tide 
should rise. After a while, the water came rush- 
ing in with great impetuosity, and soon reached 
nearly to the place where the Spaniards were re- 
posing. Upon this Vasco Nunez rose and took a 
banner on which were painted the Virgin and Child, 
and under them the arms -of Castile and Leon; 
then drawing his sword and throwing his buckler 
on his shoulder, he marched into the sea until the 
water reached above his knees, and waving his 
banner, exclaimed with a loud voice, « Long live 
the high and mighty monarchsDon Ferdinand and 



IQ2 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, of Leon, and 
of Arragon, in whose name, and for the royal 
crown of Castile. I take real, and corporal, and ac- 
tual possession of these seas, and lands, and coasts, 
and ports, and islands of the south, and all there- 
unto annexed ; and of the kingdoms and provinces 
which do or may appertain to them, in whatever 
manner, or by whatever right or title, ancient or 
modern, in times past, present, or to come, with- 
out any contradiction ; and if other prince or cap- 
tain, christian or infidel, or of any law, sector con- 
dition whatsoever, shall pretend any right to these 
lands and seas, I am ready and prepared to maintain 
and defend them in the name of the Castilian 
sovereigns, present and future, whose is the empire 
and dominion over these Indias, islands, andterra 
firma, northern and southern, with all their seas, 
both at the arctic and antarctic poles, on either 
side of the equinoctial line, whether within or 
without the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, both 
now and in all times, as long as the world en- 
dures, and until the final day of judgment of all 
mankind." 

This SAvelling declaration and defiance being 
uttered with a loud voice, and no one appearing 
to dispute his pretensions, Vasco Nunez called 
upon his companions to bear witness of the fact 
of his having duly taken possession. They all 
declared themselves ready to defend his claim to 
the uttermost, as became true and loyal vassals to 
the Castilian sovereigns ; and the notary having 



i5i3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. j g3 

drawn up a document for the occasion, they all 
subscribed it with their nam-es. 

This done, they advanced to the margin of the 
sea, and, stooping down, tasted its waters. When 
they found, that, though severed by intervening 
mountains and continents, they were salt like the 
seas of the north, they felt assured that they had 
indeed discovered an ocean, and again returned 
thanks to God. 

Having concluded all these ceremonies, Vasco 
Nunez drew a dagger from his girdle and cut a 
cross on a tree which grew within the water, and 
made two other crosses on two adjacent trees, in 
honour of the Three Persons of the Trinity, and 
in token of possession. His followers likewise cut 
crosses on many of the trees of the adjacent forest, 
and lopped off branches with their swords to bear 
away as trophies. 1 

Such was the singular medley of chivalrous and 
religious ceremonial, with which these Spanish 
adventurers took possession of the vast Pacific 
Ocean, and all its lands — a scene strongly charac- 
teristic of the nation and the age. 

1 Many of the foregoing particulars are from the unpublished 
volume of Oviedo's History of the Indias. 



94 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 



CHAPTER XL 

ADVENTURES OF VASCO NUNEZ ON THE BORDERS 
OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. ( I 5 I 3 . ) 

Y/hile he made the village of Chiapes his head 
quarters, Vasco Nunez foraged the adjacent coun- 
try, and obtained a considerable quantity of gold 
from the natives. Encouraged by his success, he 
undertook to explore by sea the borders of a 
neighbouring gulf of great extent, which pene- 
trated far into the land. The cacique Chiapes 
warned him of the clanger of venturing to sea in 
the stormy season, which comprises the months of 
October, November, and December, assuring him 
that he had beheld many canoes swallowed up in 
the mighty waves and whirlpools, which at such 
time render the gulf almost unnavigable. 

These remonstrances were unavailing: Vasco 
Nunez expressed a confident belief that God 
would protect him, seeing that his voyage was 
to redound to the propagation of the faith, and 
the augmentation of the power of the Castilian 
monarchs over the infidels; and in truth this 
bigoted reliance on the immediate protection of 
heaven seems to have been, in a great measure 
the cause of the extravagant daring of the Spa- 
niards in their expeditions in those days, whether 
against Moors or Indians. 

Finding his representations of no effect, Chhipes 



i5i3.] \ ISCO NUNEZ 1)E BALBOA. I o,5 

volunteered to take part in this perilous cruise, 
lest he should appear wanting- in courage, or in 
good will to his guest. Accompanied by the ca- 
cique, therefore, Vasco Nunez embarked, on the 
l-th of October, with sixty of his men in nine 
crnoes, managed by Indians, leaving the residue 
of his followers to recruit their health and strength 
in the village of Cheapes. 

Scarcely hoAvever had they put forth on the 
broad bosom of the gulf, when the wisdom of the 
cacique's advice was made apparent. The wind 
began to blow freshly, raising a heavy and tu- 
multuous sea, which broke in roaring and foaming 
surges on the rocks and reefs, and among the nu- 
merous islets with which the gulf was studded. 
The light canoes were deeply laden with men un- 
skilled in their management. It was frightful to 
those in one canoe to behold their companions, 
one instant tossed high on the breaking crest of a 
wave, the next plunging out of sight, as if swal- 
lowed in a watery abyss. The Indians them- 
selves, though almost amphibious in their habits, 
showed signs of consternation; for amidst these 
rocks and breakers even the skill of the expert 
swimmer would be of little avail. At length the 
Indians succeeded in tying the canoes in pairs, 
side by side, to prevent their being overturned, 
and in this way they kept afloat, until towards 
evening they were enabled to reach a small island. 
Here they landed, and fastening the canoes to the 
rocks, or to small trees that grew upon the shore, 



196 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

they sought an elevated dry place, and stretched' 
themselves to take repose. They had hut escaped 
from one danger to encounter another. Having 
been for a long time accustomed to the sea on the 
northern side of the isthmus, where there is little, 
if any, rise or fall of the tide, they had neglected 
to take any precaution against such an occurrence. 
In a little while they were awakened from then- 
sleep by the rapid rising of the water. They shifted 
their situation to a higher ground, but the waters 
continued to gain upon them, the breakers rush- 
ing and roaring and foaming upon the beach like 
so many monsters of the deep seeking for their 
prey. Nothing, it is said, can be more dismal and 
appalling than the sullen bellowing of the sea 
among the islands of that gulf at the rising and 
falling of the tide. By degrees, rock after rock, 
and one sand -bank after another disappeared, 
until the sea covered the whole island, and rose 
almost to the girdles of the Spaniards. Their 
situation was now agonizing. A little more and 
the waters Avould overwhelm them : or, even as it 
was, the least surge might break over them and 
sweep them from their unsteady footing. Fortu- 
nately the wind had lulled, and the sea, having 
risen above the rocks which had fretted it, was 
calm. The tide had reached its height and began 
to subside, and after a time they heard the retir- 
ing waves beating against the rocks below them. 
When the day dawned they sought their canoes ; 
but here a sad spectacle met their eyes. Some 



i5i3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 197 

were broken to pieces, others yawning open in 
many parts. The clothing and food left in them 
had been washed away, and replaced by sand and 
water. The Spaniards gazed on the scene in 
mute despair; they were faint and weary, and 
needed food and repose, but famine and labour 
awaited them, even if they should escape Avith 
their lives. Vasco Nunez, however, rallied their 
spirits, and set them an example by his own 
cheerful exertions. Obeying' his directions, they 
set to work to repair, in the best manner they 
were able, the damages jof the canoes. Such 
as were not too much shattered they bound and 
braced up with their girdles, with slips of the 
bark of trees, or with the tough long stalks of cer- 
tain sea-weeds. They then peeled off the bark 
from the small sea-plants, pounded it. between 
stones, and mixed it with grass, and with this en- 
deavoured to caulk the seams and stop the leaks 
that remained. When they re-embarked, their 
numbers weighed down the canoes almost to the 
water's edge, and as they rose and sank with the 
swelling waves, there was danger of their being 
swallowed up. All day they laboured with the 
sea, suffering excessively from the pangs of hunger 
and thirst, and at nightfall they landed in a corner 
of the gulf, near the abode of a cacique named 
Tiimaco. Leaving a part of his men to guard the 
canoes, Vasco Nunez set out with the residue for 
the Indian town. He arrived there about mid- 
night, but the inhabitants A\ere on the alert to 



iy8 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

defend their habitations. The fire-arms and dogs 
soon put them to flight, and the Spaniards pur- 
suing them with their swords, drove them howling 
into the woods. In the village were found pro- 
visions in abundance, beside a considerable amount 
of gold and a great quantity of pearls, many of them 
of a large size. In the house of the cacique were 
several huge shells of mother-of-pearl, and four 
pearl oysters quite fresh, which showed that there 
was a pearl-fishery in the neighbourhood. Eager 
to learn the sources of this wealth, Vasco Nunez 
sent several of the Indians of Cheapes in search of 
the cacique, who traced him to a wild retreat 
among the rocks. By their persuasions Tumaco 
sent his son, a fine young savage, as a mediator. 
The latter returned to his father loaded with pre- 
sents, and extolling the benignity of these super- 
human beings, who had shown themselves so 
terrible in battle. By these means, and by a 
mutual exchange of presents, a friendly inter- 
course was soon established. Among other things 
the cacicpie gave Vasco Nunez jewels of gold 
weighing six hundred and fourteen crowns^ and 
two hundred pearls of great size and beauty, ex- 
cepting that they were somewhat discoloured in 
consequence of the oysters having been opened 
by fire. 

The cacique seeing the value which the Spa- 
niards set upon the pearls, sent a number of his men 
to fish for them at a place about ten miles distant. 
Certain oftlie Indians were trained from their youth 






loi3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 1 99 

to this purpose, so as to become expert divers, and 
to acquire the power of remaining a long time 
beneath the water. The largest pearls are gene- 
rally found in the deepest water, sometimes in 
three and four fathoms, and are only sought in 
calm weather; the smaller sort are found at the 
depth of two and three feet, and the oysters con- 
taining them are often driven in quantities on the 
beach during violent storms. 

The party of pearl-divers sent by the cacique 
consisted of thirty Indians, with whom Vasco 
Nunez sent six Spaniards as eye-witnesses. The 
sea, however, was so furious at that stormy season 
that the divers dared not venture into the deep 
water. Such a number of the shell-fish, however, 
had been driven on shore, that they collected 
enough to yield pearls to the value of twelve 
marks of gold. They were small, but exceed- 
ingly beautiful, being newly taken and uninjured 
by fire. A number of these shell-fish and their 
pearls were selected to be sent to Spain as speci- 
mens. 

In reply to the inquiries of Vasco Nuilez, the 
cacique informed him that the coast which he saw 
stretching to the west continued onwards without 
end, and that far to the south there was a country 
abounding in gold, where the inhabitants made 
use of certain quadrupeds to carry burthens. He 
moulded a figure of clay to represent these ani- 
mals, which some of the Spaniards supposed to be 
a deer, others a camel, others a tapir, for as yet 



200 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

they knew nothing of the lama, the native beast 
of burthen of South America. This was the se- 
cond intimation received by Vasco Nunez of the 
great empire of Peru; and, while it confirmed all 
that had been told him by the son of Comagre, it 
filled him with glowing anticipations of the glori- 
ous triumphs that awaited him. 



CHAPTER XII. 



FURTHER ADVENTURES AND EXPLOITS OF VASCO 
NUNEZ ON THE BORDERS OF THE PACIFIC 
OCEAN. — (i 5 I 3.) 

Lest any ceremonial should be wanting to secure 
this grand discovery to the crown of Spain, Vasco 
Nuriez determined to sally from the gulf and 
take possession of the main land beyond. The ca- 
cique Tdmaco furnished him with a canoe of state, 
formed from the trunk of an enormous tree, and 
managed by a great number of Indians. The 
handles of the paddles were inlaid with small 
pearls, a circumstance which Vasco Nunez caused 
his companions to testify before the notary, that 
it might be reported to the sovereigns as a proof 
of the wealth of this newly-discovered sea. 1 

Departing in the canoe on the twenty-ninth of 
October, he was piloted cautiously by the Indians 

■Oviedo, Hist. Gen. p. 2. MS. 



l5l3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 20 t 

along the borders of the gulf, over drowned lands, 
where the sea was fringed by inundated forests 
and as still as a pool. Arrived at the point of the 
gulf, Yasco Nunez landed on a smooth sandy 
beach, laved by the waters of the broad ocean, and, 
with buckler on arm, sword in hand, and banner 
displayed, again marched into the sea and took 
possession of it, with like ceremonials to thoseob- 
served in the Gulf of St Michael's. 

The Indians now pointed to a line of land rising 
above the horizon about four or five leagues dis- 
tant, which they described as being a great island, 
the principal one of an archipelago. The whole 
group abounded with pearls, but those taken on 
the coasts of this island were represented as being 
of immense size, many of them as large as a man's 
eye, and found in shell-fish as big as bucklers. 
This island and the surrounding cluster of small 
ones, they added, were under the dominion of a 
tyrannical and puissant cacique, who often, during 
the calm seasons, made descents upon the main 
land with fleets of canoes, plundering and deso- 
lating the coasts, and carrying the people into 
captivity. 

Vasco Nunez gazed with an eager and wistful 
eye at this land of riches, and would have imme- 
diately undertaken an expedition to it, had not the 
Indians represented the dangerof venturingonsuch 
a voyage in that tempestuous season, in their frail 
Cannes. His own recent experience convinced 
him of the wisdom of their remonstrances. He 



202 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

postponed his visit, therefore, to a future occasion, 
when, he assured his allies, he would avenge them 
upon this tyrant invader, and deliver their coasts 
from his maraudings. In the mean time he gave 
to this island the name of Isla Rica, and the little 
archipelago surrounding it the general appellation 
of the Pearl Islands. 

On the 3d of November Vasco Nunez departed 
from the province of Tumaco, to visit other parts 
of the coast. He embarked with his men in the 
canoes, accompanied by Chiapes and his Indians, 
and guided by the son of Tuinaco, who had be- 
come strongly attached to the Spaniards. The 
young man piloted them along an arm of the sea, 
wide in some places, but in others obstructed by 
groves of mangrove-trees, which grew within the 
water and interlaced their branches from shore to 
shore, so that, at times, the Spaniards were obliged 
to cut a passage with their swords. 

At length they entered a great and turbulent 
river, which they ascended with difficulty, and, 
early the next morning surprised a village on its 
banks, making the cacique Teaochan prisoner ; who 
purchased their favour and kind treatment by a 
quantity of gold and pearls, and an abundant sup- 
ply of provisions. As it was the intention of 
Vasco Nunez to abandon the shores of the South- 
ern Ocean at this place, and to strike across the 
mountains for Darien, he took leave of Chiapes and 
of the youthful son of Tumaco, who were to re- 
turn to their houses in the canoes. He sent, at the 



I 5 I 3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 203 

same time, a message to his men, whom he had 
left in the village of Cheapes, appointing a place in 
the mountains where they were to rejoin him on 
his \\ a\ back to Darien. 

The talent of Vasco Nunez for conciliating and 
winning the good-will of the savages is often men- 
tioned, and to such a degree had he exerted it in 
the present instance, that the two chieftains shed 
tears at parting. Their conduct had a favourable 
effect upon the cacicpue Teaochan ; he entertained 
Yus< <> Nunez with the most devoted hospitality 
during three days that he remained in his village ; 
when about to departhe furnished him with astock 
of provisions sufficient for several days, as his 
route would be over rocky and sterile mountains. 
He sent also a numerous band of his subjects to 
carry the burthens of the Spaniards. These he 
placed under the command of his son, whom he 
ordered never to separate from the strangers, nor to 
permit any of his men to return without the consent 
of Vasco Nunez. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



VASCO NUNEZ SETS OUT ON HIS RETURN ACROSS 
nil. MOUNTAINS. — HIS CONTESTS WITH THE 
SAVAGES. 

Turning their backs upon the Southern Sea, the 
Spaniards now began painfully to clamber the 
rugged mountains on their return to Darien, 



204 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i 5 1 3. 

In the early part of their route an unlooked-for 
suffering awaited them : there was neither brook 
norfountain nor standing pool. Theburningheat, 
which produced intolerable thirst, had dried up all 
the mountain torrents, and they were tantalized by 
the sight of naked and dusty channels where water 
had once flowed in abundance. Their sufferings 
at length increased to such a height that many 
threw themselves fevered and panting upon the 
earth, and were ready to give up the ghost. The 
Indians, however, encouraged them to proceed, by 
hopes of speedy relief, and after a while, turning- 
aside from the direct course, led them into a deep 
and narrow glen, refreshed and cooled by a foun- 
tain which bubbled out of a cleft of the rocks. 

While refreshing themselves at the fountain, and 
reposing in the little valley, they learnt from their 
guides that they were in the territories of a pow- 
erful chief named Poncra, famous for his riches. 
The Spaniards had already heard of the golden 
stores of this Crcesus of the mountains, and being 
now refreshed and invigorated, pressed forward 
with eagerness for his village. The cacique and 
most of his people (led at their approach, but they 
found an earnest of his wealth in the deserted 
houses, amounting to the value of three thousand 
crowns in gold. Their avarice thus whetted, they 
despatched Indians in search of Poncra, who found 
him trembling in his secret retreat, and partly by 
threats, partly by promises, prevailed upon him 
and three of his principal subjects to come to 



k.ij.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 2o5 

Visni .Nil in/. lie was a savage, it is said, so 
hateful of aspect, so misshapen in hody and de- 
formed in all his members, that he was hideous to 
behold. The Spaniards endeavoured by gentle 
means to draw from him information of the places 
from whence he had procured his gold. He pro- 
fessed utter ignorance in the matter, declaring that 
the gold found in his village had been gathered by 
his predecessors in times long past, and that as he 
himself set no value on the metal, he had never 
troubled himself to seek it. The Spaniards re- 
sorted to menaces, and even, it is said, to tortures^ 
to compel him to betray his reputed treasures, but 
with no better success. Disappointed in their ex- 
pectations, and enraged athi6 supposed obstinacy, 
they listened too readily to charges advanced 
against him by certain caciques of the neighbour- 
hood, who represented him as a monster of cruelty, 
and as guilty of crimes repugnant to nature; 1 
whereupon, in the heat of the moment, they gave 
him and his three companions, who were said to 
be equally guilty, to be torn in pieces by the dogs. 
— A rash and cruel sentence, issued on the evidence 
of avowed enemies ; and which, however it may 
be palliated by the alleged horror and disgust of 
die Spaniards at the imputed crimes of the cacique, 
bears visibly the stamp of haste and passion, and 
remains accordingly afoul blot on the character of 
Vascu Nunez. 

The Spaniards staid for thirty days reposing 

1 P\ Martyr, d. iii. c. a. 



206 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

in the village of the unfortunate Poncra, during 
which time they were rejoined by their companions, 
who had been left behind at the village of Cheapes. 
They were accompanied by a cacique of the moun- 
tains, who had lodged and fed them, and made 
them presents of the value of two thousand crowns 
in gold. This hospitable savage approached 
Vasco Nunez with a serene countenance, and tak- 
ing him by the hand, « Behold,!) said he, « most 
valiant and powerful chief, I bring thee thy com- 
panions safe and well, as they entered under my 
roof. May he who made the thunder and light- 
ning, and who gives us the fruits of the earth, 
preserve thee and thine in safety!)) So saying, 
he raised his eyes to the sun, as if he worshipped 
that as his deity and the dispenser of all temporal 
blessings. 1 

Departing from this village, and being still ac- 
companied by the Indians of Teaochan, the Spa- 
niards now bent their course along the banks of 
the river Comagre, which descends the northern 
side of the Isthmus, and flows through the terri- 
tories of the cacique of the same name. This 
wild stream, which in the course of ages had worn 
a channel through the deep clefts and ravines of 
the mountains, was bordered by precipices, or 
overhung by shagged forests ; they soon aban- 
doned it, therefore, and wandered on without any 
path, but guided by the Indians. They had to 
climb terrible precipices, and to descend into deep 

' Herrera, d. i. 1. x. c. 4- 



l5l3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 207 

valleys, darkened by thick forests and beset by 
treacherous morasses, where, but for their guides, 
they might have been smothered in the mire. 

In the course of this rugged journey they suf- 
fered excessively in consequence of their own 
avarice. They had been warned of the sterility of 
the country they were about to traverse, and of 
the necessity of providing amply for the journey. 
When they came to lade the Indians, however, 
who bore their burthens, their only thought was 
how to convey the most treasure ; and they 
grudged even a slender supply of provisions, as 
taking up the place of an equal weight of gold. 
The consequences were soon felt. The Indians 
could carry hut small burthens, and at the same 
time assisted to consume the scanty stock of food 
which formed part of their load. Scarcity and 
famine ensued, and relief was rarely to be pro- 
cured, for the villages on this elevated part of the 
mountains were scattered and poor, and nearly 
destitute of provisions. They held no communi- 
cation with each other; each contenting itself with 
the scanty produce of its own fields and forest. 
Some were entirely deserted; at other places, the 
inhabitants, forced from their retreats, implored 
pardon, and declared they had hidden themselves 
through shame, not having the means of properly 
entertaining such celestial visitors. They brought 
peace-offerings of gold, but no provisions. For 
once the Spaniards found that even their darling 
gold could fail to cheer their drooping spirits. 



208 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3- 

Their sufferings from hunger became intense, and 
many of their Indian companions sank down and 
perished by the way. At length they reached a 
village where they were enabled to obtain sup- 
plies, and where they remained thirty days, to 
recruit their wasted strength. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



ENTERPRISE AGAINST TURANAMA, THE WARLIKE 

CACIQUE OF THE MOUNTAINS. RETURN TO 

DARIEN. 

The Spaniards had now to pass through the 
territories of Tubanama, the most potent and 
warlike cacique of the mountains. This was the 
same chieftain of whom a formidable character 
had been given by the young Indian prince, who 
first informed Vasco Nunez of the southern sea. 
He had erroneously represented the dominions of 
Tubanama as lying beyond the mountains : and, 
while he dwelt upon the quantities of gold to be 
found in them, had magnified the dangers that 
would attend any attempt to pass their borders. 
The name of this redoubtable cacique was in fact 
a terror throughout the country ; and when Vasco 
Nuiiez looked round upon his handful of pale and 
emaciated followers, he doubted whether even the 
superiority of their weapons, and their military 
skill, would enable them to cope with Tubanama 



i5i3.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 200, 

and his armies in open contest. He resolved, 
therefore, to venture upon a perilous stratagem. 
When be made it known to his men, every one 
pressed forward to engage in it. Chusing seventy 
of the most vigorous, he ordered the rest to main- 
tain their post in the village. 

As soon as night had fallen he departed silently 
and secretly with his chosen hand, and made his 
way with such rapidity through the labyrinths of 
the forests and the defiles of the mountains, that 
he arrived in the neighbourhood of the residence 
of Tubanama by the following evening, though at 
the distance of two regular days' journey. 

There waiting until midnight, he assailed the 
village suddenly, and with success, so as to surprise 
and capture the cacique and his who>3 family, in 
which were eighty females. When Tubanama found 
himself a prisoner in the hands of the Spaniards, 
he lost all presence of mind, and wept bitterly. 
The Indian allies of Vasco Nunez beholding their 
once dreaded enemy thus fallen and captive, now 
urged that he should be put to death, accusing 
him of various crimes and cruelties. Vasco Nunez 
pretended to listen to their prayers, and gave 
orders that his captive should be tied hand and 
foot, and given to the dogs. The cacique ap- 
proached him trembling, and laid his hand upon 
the pommel of his sword. «\Vho can pretend," 
said he, u to strivn with one who bears this weapon, 
which can cleave a man asunder with a blow ? 
Ever since thy fame has reached among these 

9- 



210 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

mountains, have I reverenced thy valour. Spare 
my life, and thou shalt have all the gold I can pro- 
cure." 

Vasco Nunez, whose anger was assumed, was 
readily pacified. As soon as the day dawned, the 
cacique gave him armlets and other jewels of gold 
to the value of three thousand crowns, and sent 
messengers throughout his dominions ordering his 
subjects to aid in paying his ransom. The poor 
Indians, with their accustomed loyalty, hastened 
in crowds, bringing their golden ornaments, until 
in the course of three days they had produced an 
amount equal to six thousand crowns. This done, 
Vasco Nunez set the cacique at liberty, bestowing 
on him several European trinkets, with which he 
considered himself richer than he had been with 
all his gold. Nothing would draw from him, 
however, the disclosure of the mines from whence 
this treasure was procured. He declared that it 
came from the territories of his neighbours, where 
gold and pearls were to be found in abundance ; 
but that his lands produced nothing of the kind. 
Vasco Nunez doubted his sincerity, and secretly 
caused the brooks and rivers in his dominions to 
be searched, where gold was found in such quan- 
tities that he determined, at a future time, to found 
two settlements in the neighbourhood. 

On parting with Tubanama, the cacique sent 
his son with the Spaniards to learn their language 
and religion. It is said, also, that the Spaniards 
carried off his eighty women ; but of this parti- 



i5i4] VASCO NL'S'EZ DE BALBOA. 9.1 i 

cular fact Oviedo, who writes with the papers of 
Vasco Nunez before him, says nothing. He af- 
firms, generally, however, that the Spaniards, 
throughout this expedition, were not scrupulous 
in their dealings with the wives and daughters of 
the Indians; and adds, that in this their comman- 
der set them the example. 1 

Having: returned to the village where he had left 
the greater part of his men, Vasco Nunez resumed 
his homeward march. His people were feeble and 
exhausted, and several of them sick; so that some 
had to be carried and others led by the arms. He 
himself was part of the time afflicted by a fever, 
and had to be borne in a hammock on the shoul- 
ders of the Indians. 

Proceeding thus slowly and toilfully, they at 
length arrived on the northern sea-coast, at the 
territories of their ally, Comagre. The old cacique 
was dead, and had been succeeded by his son, 
the same intelligent youth who had first given in- 
formation of the southern sea and the kingdom of 
Peru. The young chief, who had embraced Chris- 
tianity, received them with great hospitality, mak- 
ing them presents of gold. Vasco Nunez gave 
him trinkets in return, and a shirt and a soldier's 
cloak; with which, says Peter Martyr, he thought 
himself half a god among his naked countrymen. 
After having reposed for a few days, Vasco Nunez 
proceeded to Ponca, where he heard that a ship 
and caravel had arrived at Darien from Hispaniola, 

1 Oviedo, Hist. Gea. Part II. c. l\. MS. 



212 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. fi5i4- 

with reinforcements and supplies. Hastening, 
therefore, to Coyba, the territories of his allv, 
Careta, he embarked on the 18th of January, 1 5 14, 
with twenty of his men, in the brigantine which 
he had left there, and arrived at Santa Maria de 
la Antigua, in the river of Darien, on the follow- 
ing day. All the inhabitants came forth to re- 
ceive him ; and when they heard the news of the 
great southern sea, and of his returning from its 
shores laden with pearls and gold, there were no 
bounds to their joy. He immediately despatched 
the ship and caravel to Coyba for the companions 
he had left behind, who brought with them the 
remaining booty, consisting of gold and pearls, 
mantles, hammocks, and other articles of cotton, 
and a great number of captives of both sexes. A 
fifth of the spoil was set apart for the crown; the 
rest was shared, in just proportions, among those 
who had been in the expedition, and those Avho 
had remained at Darien. All were contented with 
their allotment, and elated with the prospect of 
still greater gain from future enterprises. 

Thus ended one of the most remarkable expe- 
ditions of the early discoverers. The intrepidity 
of Vasco Nunez in penetrating, with a handful of 
men, far into the interior of a wild and mountain- 
ous country, peopled by warlike tribes : his skill 
in managing his band of rough adventurers, sti- 
mulating their valour, enforcing their obedience, 
and attaching their affections, show him to have 
possessed great cpaalitiesas a general. We are told 



l5l4] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 2 I 3 

that he was always foremost in peril, and the last 
to quit the field. He shared the toils and dangers 
ofthe meanest of his followers, treating' them with 
frank affability; watching, fighting, fasting, and 
labouring with them ; visiting and consoling such 
as were sick or infirm, and dividing all his gains 
with fairness and liberality. He was chargeable at 
times with acts of bloodshed and injustice, but 
it is probable that these were often called for as 
measures of safety and precaution; he certainly 
offended less against humanity than most of the 
early discoverers; and the unbounded amity and 
confidence reposed in him by the natives, when 
they became intimately acquainted with his cha- 
racter, speak strongly in favour of his kind treat- 
ment of them. 

The character of Vasco Nunez had, in fact, risen 
with his circumstances, and now assumed a noble- 
ness and grandeur from the discovery he had 
made, and the important charge it had devolved 
upon him. He no longer felt himself a mere sol- 
dier of fortune, at the head of a band of adventu- 
rers, but a great commander conducting an im- 
mortal enterprise. « Behold, » says old Peter 
Martyr, « Vasco Nunez de Balboa, at once trans- 
formed from a rash royster to a politic and dis- 
creet captain:» and thus it is that men are often 
made by their fortunes ; that is to say, their latent 
qualities are brought out, and shaped and strength- 
ened by events, and by the necessity of every ex- 
ertion to cope with the greatness of their destiny. 



2 1 4 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i4- 



CHAPTER XV. 

TRANSACTIONS IN SPAIN. PEDRAR1AS DAV1LA 

APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF DARIEN. 

TIDINGS RECEIVED IN SPAIN OF THE DISCOVERY 
OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 

Vasco Nunez de Balboa now flattered himself that 
he had made a discovery calculated to silence all 
his enemies at court, and to elevate him to the 
highest favour with his sovereign. He wrote let- 
ters to the king, giving a detail of his expedition, 
and setting forth all that he had seen or heard of 
this Southern Sea, and of the rich countries upon 
its borders. Beside the royal fifths of the profits 
of the expedition, he prepared a present for the 
sovereign, in the name of himself and his com- 
panions, consisting of the largest and most pre- 
cious pearls they had collected. As a trusty and 
intelligent envoy to bear these tidings, he chose 
Pedro de Arbolancba, an old and tried friend, 
who had accompanied him in his toils and dan- 
gers, and was well acquainted will all his trans- 
actions. 

The fate of Vasco Nufiez furnishes a striking 
instance how prosperity and adversity, how even 
life and death hang balanced upon a point of time, 
and are affected by die improvement or neglect of 
moments. Unfortunately, the ship which was 
to convey the messenger to Spain lingered in port 



» 5 14] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 2l5 

until the beginning of March ; a delay which had 
a fatal influence on the fortunes of Vasco Nunez. 
It is necessary here to cast an eye back upon the 
events which had taken place in Spain while he 
was employed in his conquests and discoveries. 

The Bachelor Enciso had arrived in Castile full 
of his wrongs and indignities. He had friends at 
court, who aided him in gaining a ready hearing, 
and he lost not a moment in availing himself of it. 
He declaimed eloquently upon the alleged usur- 
pation of Vasco Nunez, and represented him as 
governing the colony by force and fraud. It was 
in vain that the Alcalde Zamudio, the ancient col- 
league and the envoy of Vasco Nunez, attempted 
to speak in his defence; he was unable to cope 
with the facts and arguments of the Bachelor, 
who was a pleader by profession, and now pleaded 
his own cause. The king determined to send a 
new governor to Darien, with power to inquire 
into and remedy all abuses. For this office he 
chose Don Pedro Arias Davila, commonly called 
Pedrarias. 1 He was a native of Segovia, who had 
been brought up in the royal household, and had 
distinguished himself as a brave soldier, both in 
the war of Granada and at the taking of Oran and 
Bugia in Africa. He possessed those personal 
accomplishments which captivate the soldiery, and 
was called el Galan, for his gallant array and 
courtly demeanour, and el Justaclor or the Tilter, 

• By the English historians he has generally been called 
Davila. 



2l6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i4- 

for liis dexterity in justs and tournaments. These, 
it must be admitted, were not the qualifications 
most adapted for the government of rude and fac- 
tious colonies in a wilderness; but he had an all- 
powerful friend in the Bishop Fonseca. The 
Bishop was as thoroughgoing in patronage as in 
persecution. He assured the king that Pedrarias 
had understanding equal to his valour; that he 
was as capable of managing the affairs of peace 
as of war, and that, having been brought up in 
the royal household, his loyalty might be impli- 
citly relied on, 

Scarcely had Don Pedrarias been appointed, 
when Cayzedo and Colmenares arrived on their 
mission from Darien, to communicate the intelli- 
gence received from the son of the cacique Coma- 
gre, of the Southern Sea beyond the mountains, 
and to ask one thousand men to enable Vasco 
Nunez to make the discovery. 

The avarice and ambition of Ferdinand were 
inflamed by the tidings. He rewarded the bearers 
of the intelligence, and, after consulting with 
Bishop Fonseca, resolved to despatch immediately 
a powerful armada,, with twelve hundred men, 
under the command of Pedrarias, to accomplish 
the enterprise. 

Just about this time the famous Gonsalvo Her- 
nandezde Cordova, commonly called theGreatCap- 
tain, was preparing to return to Naples, where the 
allies of Spain had experienced a signal defeat, and 
had craved the assistance of this renowned general 



l5i4-] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 217 

to retrieve their fortunes. The chivalry of Spain 
thronged to enlist under the banner of Gonsalvo. 
The Spanish nobles, with their accustomed prodi- 
<;alit\ . sold or mortgaged their estates to buy gor- 
geous armour, silks, brocades, and other articles 
of martial pomp and luxury, that they might 
figure, with becoming magnificence, in the cam- 
paigns of Italy. The armament was on the point 
of sailing for Naples with this host of proud and 
gallant spirits, when the jealous mind of Ferdi- 
nand took offence at the enthusiasm thus shown 
towards his general, and he abruptly counter- 
mand! d the expedition. The Spanish cavaliers 
were overwhelmed with disappointment at having 
their dreams of glory thus suddenly dispelled; 
when, as il to console them, the enterprise of Pe- 
drarias was set on foot, and opened a different 
careerof adventure. The very idea of an unknown 
sea and splendid empire, where never European 
ship had sailed or foot had trodden, broke upon 
the imagination with the vague wonders of an 
Arabian tale. Even the countries already known, 
in the vicinity of the settlement of Darien, were 
described in the usual terms of exaggeration. Gold 
was said to lie on the surface of the ground, or to 
thered with nets out of the brooks and rivers; 
insomuch that the region hitherto called Terra 
Firm a, now received the pompous and delusive 
appellation of Castilla del Oro, or Golden Castile. 
Kx< ited by these reports, many of the youthful 
cavaliers, who had prepared for the Italian cam- 

10 



2l8 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5 1 4- 

paign, now offered themselves as volunteers to 
Don Pedrarias. lie accepted their services, and 
appointed Seville as the place of assemblage. The 
streets of that ancient city soon swarmed with 
young and noble cavaliers splendidly arrayed, full 
of spirits and eager for the sailing of the Indian 
armada. Pedrarias, on his arrival at Seville, 
made a general review of his forces, and was em- 
barrassed to find that the number amounted to 
three thousand. He had been limited in his first 
armament to twelve hundred ; on representing the 
nature of the case, however, the number was ex- 
tended to fifteen hundred ; but through influence, 
entreaty and stratagem, upwards of two thousand 
eventually embarked. 1 Happy did he think him- 
self who could in any manner, and by any means, 
get admitted on board of the squadron. Nor was 
this eagerness for the enterprise confined merely 
to young and buoyant and ambitious adventurers, 
we are told that there were many covetous old 
men, who offered to go at their own expense, 
without seeking any pay from the king. Thus 
every eye was turned with desire to this squadron 
of modern argonauts, as it lay anchored on the 
bosom of the Guadalquiver. 

The pay and appointments of Don Pedrarias 
Davila were on the most liberal scale, and no ex- 
pense was spared in fitting out the armament; for 
die objects of the expedition were both coloniza- 
■ Oviedo, I. ii. c. 7. MS. 



i5i4] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 2 I 9 

tion and conquest. Artillery and powder were 
procured from Malaga. Beside the usual wea- 
pons, such as muskets, cross-bows, swords, pikes, 
lances and Neapolitan targets, there was armour 
devised of quilted cotton, as being light and better 
adapted to the climate, and sufficiently proof 
against the weapons of the Indians; and wooden 
bucklers from the Canary Islands, to ward off the 
poisoned arrows or the Caribs. 

Santa Maria de la Antigua was, by royal ordi- 
nance, elevated into the metropolitan city of 
Golden Castile, and a Franciscan friar, named 
Juan de Quevedo, was appointed as bishop, with 
powers to decide in all cases of conscience. A 
number of friars were nominated to accompany 
him, and he was provided with the necessary fur- 
niture and vessels for a chapel. 

Among the various regulations made for the 
good of the infant colony, it was ordained that no 
lawyers should be admitted there, it having been 
found at Hispaniola and elsewhere, that they were 
detrimental to the welfare of the settlements by 
fomenting disputes and litigations. The judicial 
affairs were to be entirely confided to the Licen- 
tiate Gaspar de Espinosa, who was to officiate as 
Alcalde Mayor or chief judge. 

Don Pedrarias had intended to leave his wife in 
Spain. Her name Avas Dona Isabella de Boba- 
d ilia ; she was niece to the Marchioness de Moya, 
a great favourite of the late Queen Isabella, 



220 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i4- 

who had been instrumental in persuading her 
mistress to patronise Columbus.' Her niece par- 
took of her high and generous nature. She refused 
to remain behind in selfish security, but declared 
that she Avould accompany her husband in every 
peril, whether by sea or land. This self-devotion 
is the more remarkable when it is considered that 
she was past the romantic period of youth; and 
that she had a family of four sons and four daugh- 
ters, whom she left behind her in Spain. 

Don Pedrarias was instructed to use great in- 
dulgence towards the people of Darien, who had 
been the followers of Nicuesa, and to remit the 
royal tithe of all the gold they might have col- 
lected previous to his arrival. Towards Vasco 
Nunez de Balboa alone the royal countenance was 
stern and severe. Pedrarias w^as to depose him 
from his assumed authority, and to call him to 
strict account before the Alcalde Mayor, Gaspar 
de Espinosa, for his treatment of the Bachelor 
Enciso. 

The splendid fleet, consisting of fifteen sail, 
weighed anchor at St Lucar on the 12th of April, 
1 5 14., and swept proudly out of the Guadalquiver, 
thronged with the chivalrous adventurers for 
Golden Castile. But a short time had elapsed 
after its departure, when Pedro Arbolancho ar- 

- This was the same Marchioness de Moya, who during the war 
of Granada, while the court and royal army were encamped before 
Malaga, was mistaken for the queen by a Moorish fanatic, and 
had nearly fallen beneath his dagger. 



i 5 1 4] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 221 

rived with ihe tardy missions of Vasco Nunez. 
Had he arrived a few days sooner, how different 
might have been the fortunes of his friend! 

He was immediately admitted to the royal 
presence^ where he announced the adventurous 
and successful expedition of Vasco Nunez, and 
laid before the king the pearls and golden orna- 
ments which he had brought as the first fruits of 
the discovery. King Ferdinand listened with 
charmed attention to this tale of unknown seas 
and wealthy realms added to his empire. It 
filled, in fact, the imaginations of the most sage 
and learned with golden dreams, and anticipations 
of unbounded riches. Old Peter Martyr, who 
received letters from his friends in Darien, and 
communicated by word of mouth with those who 
came from thence, writes to Leo the Tenth, in 
exulting terms of this event, a Spain," says he, 
« will hereafter be able to satisfy with pearls the 
greedv appetite of such as in wanton pleasures 
are like unto Cleopatra and /Esopus; so that 
henceforth we shall neither envy nor reverence the 
nice fruitfulness of Trapoban or the Red Sea. 
The Spaniards will not need hereafter to mine and 
dig far into the earth, nor to cut asunder moun- 
tains in quest of gold, hut will find it plentifully, 
in a manner, on the upper crust of the earth, or in 
the sands of rivers dried up by the heats of sum- 
mer. Certainly the reverend antiquity obtained 
not so great a benefit of nature, nor even aspired 
to the knowledge thereof, since never man before, 



222 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [l 5 1 4 - 
from the known world, penetrated to these un- 
known regions.)) 1 

The tidings of this discovery at once made all 
Spain resound with the praises of Vasco Nunez; 
and, from being considered a lawless and desperate 
adventurer, he was lauded to the skies as a worthy 
successor to Columbus. The king repented of 
the harshness of his late measures towards him, 
and ordered the Bishop Fonseca to devise some 
mode of rewarding his transcendant services. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



ARRIVAL AND GRAND ENTRY OF DON PEDRARIAS 
DAVILA INTO DARIEN. 

While honours and rewards were preparing in 
Europe for Vasco Nunez, that indefatigable com- 
mander, inspired by his fortunes with redoubled 
zeal and loftier ambition, was exercising the pater- 
nal forethought and discretion of a patriotic go- 
vernor over the country subjected to his rule. 
His most strenuous exertions were directed to 
bring the neighbourhood of Darien into such a 
state of cultivation as might render the settlement 
independent of Europe for supplies. The town 
was situated on the banks of a river, and contained 
upwards of two hundred houses and cabins. Its 
population amounted to five hundred and fifteen 
Europeans, all men, and fifteen hundred Indians, 

1 P. Martyr, ilecad 3. c. iii. Lok's translation. 



l5l4-] VASCO NUSEZ DE BALBOA. 22 O 

male and female. Orchards and gardens had been 
laid out, where European as well as native fruits 
and vegetables wire cultivated, and already gave 
promise of future abundance. Vasco Nunez de- 
vised all kinds of means to keep up the spirits of 
his people. On holidays they had their favourite 
national sports and games, and particularly tilting 
matches, of which chivalrous amusement the Spa- 
niards in those davs were extravagantly fond. 
Sometimes he gratified their restless and roving 
habits by sending them in expeditions to various 
parts of the country, to acquire a knowledge of its 
resources, and to strengthen his sway over the 
natives. He was so successful in securing the 
amity or exciting the awe of the Indian tribes, 
that a Spaniard might go singly about the land in 
perfect safety; while his own followers were zeal- 
ous in their devotion to him, both from admiration 
of his past exploits, and from hopes of soon being- 
led by him to new discoveries and conquests. 
Peter Martyr, in his letter to Leo the Tenth, speaks 
in high terms of these u old soldiers of Darien," 
the remnants of those well tried adventurers 
who had followed the fortunes of Ojeda, Nicuesa, 
and Vasco Nunez, a They were hardened,;) says 
he, « to abide all sorrows, and were exceedingly 
tolerant of labour, heat, hunger, and watching, in- 
somuch that they merrily make their boast that 
they have observed a longer and sharper Lent 
than ever your Holiness enjoined, since, for the 
space of four years, their food has been herbs and 



224 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [ 1 5 1 4 . 

fruits, with now and then fish, and very seldom 
flesh.)) 1 

Such v ere the hardy and Avell-seasoned veterans 
that were under the sway of Vasco Nunez; and 
the colony gave signs of rising in prosperity under 
his active and fostering management, when, in the 
month of June, the fleet of Don Pedrarias Davila 
arrived in the gulf of Uraba. 

The Spanish cavaliers who accompanied the 
new governor were eager to get on shore, and to 
behold the anticipated wonders of the land; but 
Pedrarias, knowing the resolute character of Vasco 
Nunez, and the devotion of his followers, appre- 
hended some difficulty in getting possession of the 
colony. Anchoring, therefore, about a league and 
a half from the settlement, he sent a messenger on 
shore to announce his arrival. The envoy, having 
heard so much in Spain of the prowess and ex- 
ploits of Vasco Nunez and the riches of Golden 
Castile, expected, no doubt, to find a blustering 
warrior, maintaining barbaric state in the govern- 
ment which he had usurped. Great was his as- 
tonishment therefore to find this redoubtable hero 
a plain unassuming man, clad in a cotton frock 
and drawers, and hempen sandals, directing and 
aiding the labour of several Indians who were 
thatching a cottage in which he resided. 

The messenger approached him respectfully, and 
announced the arrival of Don Pedrarias Davila as 
governor of the country. 

1 P. Martyr, clecad 3. chap. iii. Lok's translation. 



i 5 ! 4 • ] VASCO NUNEZ DE EALBOA. 225 

Whatever Vasco Nunez may have felt at this 
intelligence, he suppressed his emotions, and an- 
swered the messenger with great discretion; « Tell 
Don Pedrarias Davila,» said he, « that he is wel- 
come, that I congratulate him on his safe arrival, 
and am ready, with all who are here, to obey his 
orders.)) 

The little community of rough and daring 
adventurers was immediately in an uproar when 
they found a new governor had arrived. Some 
of the most zealous adherents of Vasco Nunez 
were disposed to sally forth, sword in hand, and 
repel the intruder; hut they were restrained by 
their more considerate chieftain, who prepared 
to receive the new governor with all due submis- 
sion. 

Pedrarias disembarked on the thirtieth of June, 
accompanied by his heroic Avife, Dona Isabella; 
who, according to old Peter Martyr, had sustained 
the roarings and rages of the ocean with no less 
stout courage than either her husband or even the 
mariners who had been brought up among the 
surges of the sea. 

Pedrarias set out for the embryo city at the 
head of two thousand men, all well armed. He 
led his wife by the hand, and on the other side of 
him was the bishop of Darien in his robes; while 
a brilliant train of youthful cavaliers, in glittering 
armour and brocade, formed a kind of body guard. 

All this pomp and splendour formed a striking 
contrast with the humble state of Vasco Nunez, 



226 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [ i 5 1 4- 

who came forth unarmed, in simple attire, accom- 
panied by his councillors and a handful of the 
(i old soldiers of Darien,» scarred and battered, 
and grown half wild in Indian warfare, but with- 
out weapons, and in garments much the worse for 
wear. 

Vasco Nunez saluted Don Pedrarias Davila with 
profound reverence, and promised him implicit 
obedience, both in his own name and in the name 
of the community. Having entered the town, he 
conducted his distinguished guests to his straw- 
thatched habitation, where he had caused a repast 
to be prepared of such cheer as his means afforded, 
consisting of roots and fruits, maize and cassava- 
bread, with no other beverage than water from 
the river;— a sorry palace and a meagre banquet 
in the eyes of the gay cavaliers, who had antici- 
pated far other things from the usurper of Golden 
Castile. Vasco Nunez, however, acquitted him- 
self in his humble wigwam with the courtesy and 
hospitality of a prince, and showed that the dignity 
of an entertainment depends more upon the giver 
than the feast. In the mean time a plentiful 
supply of European provisions was landed from 
the fleet, and a temporary abundance was diffused 
shrough the colony. 



VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



PERFIDIOUS CONDUCT OF DON PEDRARIAS TO- 
WARDS VASCO NUNEZ. 

0>" the day after his entrance into Darien, Don 
Pedrarias held a private conference with Vasco 
Nuxiez in presence of the historian Oviedo, who 
had come out from Spain as the public notary of 
the colony. The governor commenced by assuring 
him that he was instructed by the king to treat 
him with great favour and distinction, to consult 
him about the affairs of the colony, and to apply 
to him for information relative to the surrounding 
country. At the same time he professed the most 
amicable feelings on his own part, and an inten- 
tion to be guided by his counsels in all public 
measures. 

Vasco Nunez was of a frank confiding nature, 
and was so captivated by this unexpected courtesy 
and kindness, that he threw off all caution and 
reserve, and opened his whole soul to the politic 
courtier. Pedrarias availed himself of this com- 
municative mood to draw from him a minute and 
able statement in writing, detailing the circum- 
stances of the colony, and the information col- 
lected respecting various parts of the country ; the 
route by which he had traversed the mountains; 
his discovery of the South Sea ; the situation and 



228 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i/[. 

reputed wealth of the Pearl Islands; the rivers 
and ravines most productive of gold; together 
with the names and territories of the various ca- 
ciques with whom he had made treaties. 

When Pedrarias had thus beguiled the unsus- 
pecting soldier of all the information necessary for 
his purposes, he dropped the mask, and within a 
few days proclaimed a judicial scrutiny into the 
conduct of Vasco Nunez and his officers. It was 
to be conducted by the Licentiate Gaspar de 
Espinosa, who had come out as Alcalde Mayor, or 
chief judge. The Licentiate Avas an inexperi- 
enced lawyer, having but recently left the univer- 
sity of Salamanca. He appears to have been 
somewhat flexible in his opinions, and prone to be 
guided or governed by others. At the outset of 
his career he was much under the influence of 
Quevedo, the bishop of Darien. Now, as Vasco 
Nunez knew the importance of this prelate in the 
colony, he had taken care to secure him to his in- 
terests by paying him the most profound deference 
and respect, and by giving him a share in his 
agricultural enterprises and his schemes of traffic. 
In fact, the good bishop looked upon him as one 
eminently calculated to promote his temporal pros- 
perity, to which he was by no means insensible. 
Under the influence of the prelate, therefore, the al- 
calde commenced his investigation in the most fa- 
vourable manner. He went largely into an exami- 
nation of the discoveries of Vasco Nunez, and of 
the nature and extent of his various services. The 



]5i4] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 229 

governor was alarmed at the course which the 
inquiry was taking. If thus conducted, it would 
but serve to illustrate the merits and elevate the 
reputation of the man whom it was his interest 
and intent to ruin. To counteract it he immedi- 
ately set on foot a secret and invidious course of 
interrogatories of the followers of Nicuesa and 
Ojeda, to draw from them testimony which might 
support the charge against Vasco Nunez of usur- 
pation and tyrannical abuse of power. The bishop 
and the alcalde received information of this inqui- 
sition, carried on thus secretly, and without their 
sanction. They remonstrated warmly against it, 
as an infringement of their rights, being coadjutors 
in the government; and they spurned the testi- 
monv of the followers of Ojeda and Nicuesa, as 
being dictated and discoloured by ancient enmity. 
Vasco Nunez was therefore acquitted by them of 
the criminal charges made against him, though he 
remained involved in difficulties from the suits 
brought against him by individuals, for losses and 
damages occasioned by his measures. 

Pedrarias was incensed at this acquittal, and in- 
sisted upon the guilt of Vasco Nunez, which he 
pretended to have established to his conviction by 
his secret investigations ; and he even determined 
to send him in chains to Spain, to be tried for the 
death of Nicuesa, and for other imputed offences. 

It was not the inclination or the interest of the 
bishop that Vasco Nunez should leave the colony; 
he therefore managed to awaken the jealous ap- 



230 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i4- 

prehensions of the governor as to the effect of his 
proposed measure. He intimated that the arrival 
of Vasco Nunez in Spain would be signalized by 
triumph rather than disgrace. By that time his 
grand discoveries would be blazoned to the world, 
and would atone for all his faults. He would be 
received with enthusiasm by the nation, with fa- 
vour by the king, and would probably be sent 
back to the colony clothed with new dignity and 
power. 

Pedrarias was placed in a perplexing dilemma 
by these suggestions ; his violent proceedings 
against Vasco Nunez were also in some measure 
restrained by the influence of his wife, Dona 
Isabel de Bobaclilla, who felt a great respect and 
sympathy for the discoverer. In his perplexity, 
the wily governor adopted a middle course. He 
resolved to detain Vasco Nunez at Darien under 
a cloud of imputation, which would gradually im- 
pair his popularity ; while his patience and means 
would be silently consumed by protracted and ex- 
pensive litigation. In the meantime, however, the 
property which had been sequestrated was restored 
to him. 

While Pedrarias treated Vasco Nunez with this 
severity, he failed not to avail himself of the plans 
of that able commander. The first of these was 
to establish a line of posts across the mountains 
between Darien and the South Sea. It was his 
eager desire to execute this before any order 
should arrive from the king in favour of his pre- 



l5l4-] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 23 f 

decessor, ia order that he might have the credit 
of having colonised the coast, and Vasco Nufiez, 
merely that of having discovered and visited it. 1 
Before he could complete these arrangements, 
however, unlooked-for calamities fell upon the set- 
tlement, that for a time interrupted every project, 
and made every one turn his thoughts merely to 
his own security. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

CALAMITIES OF THE SPANISH CAVALIERS AT 
DARIEN. 

The town of Darien was situated in a deep 
valley surrounded hy lofty hills, which, while they 
kept off the breezes so grateful in a sultry climate, 
reflected and concentrated the rays of the sun, 
insomuch, that at noontide the heat was insupport- 
able ; the river which passed it was shallow, with 
a muddy channel and bordered by marshes ; over- 
hanging forests added to the general humidity, 
and the very soil on which the town was built was 
of such a nature, that on digging to the depth of a 
foot there would ooze forth brackish water. 2 

It is not matter of surprise that a situation of 
this kind, in a tropical climate, should be fatal to 
the health of Europeans. Many of those who had 

' Oviedo, Hist. Ind. p. 2. c. 8. 
2 P. Martyr, decad. 3. c. vi. 



232 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i4- 

recently arrived were swept off speedily; Pedra- 
rias himself fell sick and was removed, with most 
of his people, to a healthier spot on the river Coro- 
bary; the malady, however, continued to increase. 
The provisions which had been brought out in the 
ships had been partly damaged by the sea, the 
residue grew scanty, and the people were put upon 
short allowance; the debility thus produced in- 
creased the ravages of disease; at length the provi- 
sions were exhausted and the horrors of absolute 
famine ensued. 

Every one w-as more or less affected by these 
calamities ; even the veterans of the colony quailed 
beneath them ; but to none were they more fatal 
than to the crowd of youthful cavaliers who had 
once glittered so gaily about the streets of Seville, 
and had come out to the new world elated with 
the most sanguine expectations. From the very 
moment of their landing they had been disheart- 
ened at the savage scenes around them, and dis- 
gusted with the squalid life they were doomed to 
lead. They shrunk with disdain from the labours 
with which alone wealth was to be procured in this 
land of gold and pearls, and were impatient of the 
humble exertions necessary for the maintenance of 
existence. As the famine increased, their case 
became desperate ; for they were unable to help 
themselves, and their rank and dignity commanded 
neither deference nor aid at a time Avhen common 
misery made every one selfish. Many of them, 
who had mortgaged estates in Spain to fit them- 



i5l4-] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 233 

selves out sumptuously for their Italian cam- 
paign, now perished for lack of food. Some 
would be seen bartering a robe of crimson silk, 
or some garment of rich brocade, for a pound of 
Indian bread or European biscuit; others sought 
to satisfy the cravings of hunger with the herbs 
and roots of the field, and one of the principal 
cavaliers absolutely expired of hunger in the pub- 
lic streets. 

In this wretched way, and in the short space of 
one month, perished seven hundred of the little 
army of youthful and buoyant spirits who had 
embarked with Pedrarias. The bodies of some 
remained for aday or two without sepulture, their 
friends not having sufficient strength to bury them. 
Unable to remedy the evil, Pedrarias gave per- 
mission for his men to flee from it. A ship-load of 
starving adventurers departed for Cuba, where 
some of them joined the standard of Diego Ve- 
lasquez, who was colonising that island ; others 
made their way back to Spain, where they arrived 
broken in health, in spirits and in fortune. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

FRUITLESS EXPEDITION OF PEDRARIAS. 

The departure of so many hungry mouths was 
some temporary relief to the colony; and Pedrarias 
having recovered from his malady, bestirred him- 

10. 



5»34 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i 5 1 4. 

self to send expeditions in various directions for 
the purpose of foraging the country and collecting 
the treasure. 

These expeditions, however, were entrusted to 
his own favourites and partizans; while Vasco 
Nunez, the man most competent to carry them 
into effect, remained idle and neglected. A judi- 
cial inquiry, tardily carried on, overshadowed him, 
and though it substantiated nothing, served to 
embarrass his actions, to cool his friends, and to 
give him the air of a public delinquent. Indeed 
to the other evils of the colony was now added that 
of excessive litigation, arising out of the disputes 
concerning the government of Vasco Nunez, and 
which increased to such a degree, that, according 
to the report of the Alcalde Espinosa,if the law- 
suits should he divided among the people, at least 
forty would fall to each man's share. 1 This too 
was in a colony into which the government had 
commanded that no lawyer should be admitted ! 

Wearied and irritated by the check which had 
been given to his favourite enterprises, and confi- 
dent of the ultimate approbation of the king, 
Vasco Nunez now determined to take his fortunes 
in his own hands, and to prosecute in secret his 
grand project of exploring the regions beyond the 
mountains. For this purpose, he privately des- 
patched one Andres Garabito to Cuba to enlist 
men, and to make the requisite provisions for an 
expedition across the isthmus, from Nombre de 

1 Herrera, dccad. 2. 1. i. c. 1. 



iji4] VASCO NDSEZ DE BALBOA. 235 

Dios, and for the founding a colony on the shores 
of the Southern Ocean, from whence he proposed 
to extend his discoveries hy sea and land. 

While Vasco Nunez awaited the return of Ga- 
rabito, he had the mortification of beholding vari- 
ous of his colonising plans pursued and marred by 
Pedrarias. Among other enterprises the governor 
despatched his lieutenant-general Juan de Ayora, 
at the head of four hundred men, to visit the pro- 
vinces of those caciques with whom Vasco Nunez 
had sojourned and made treaties on his expedition 
to the Southern Sea. Ayora partook of the rash 
and domineering spirit of Pedrarias, and harassed 
and devastated the countries which he pretended 
to explore. He was received with amity and 
confidence by various caciques who had formed 
treaties with Yasco Nunez; but he repaid their 
hospitality with the basest ingratitude, seizing 
upon their property, taking from them their wives 
and daughters, and often torturing them to make 
them reveal their hidden or supposed treasures. 
Among those treated with this perfidy, Ave grieve 
to enumerate the youthful cacique who first gave 
Vasco Nunez information of the sea beyond the 
mountains. 

The enormities of Ayora and of other captains 
of Pedrarias produced the usual effect; the natives 
were roused to desperate resistance; caciques, who 
had been faithful friends, were converted into fu- 
rious enemies, and the expedition ended in disap- 
pointment and disaster. 



236 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i4- 

The adherents of Vasco Nunez did not fail to 
contrast these disastrous enterprises with those 
which had been conducted with so much glory 
and advantage by their favourite commander; and 
their sneers and reproaches had such an effect 
upon the jealous and irritable disposition of Pe- 
drarias, that he determined to employ their idol in 
a service that would be likely to be attended with 
defeat and to impair his popularity. None seemed 
more fitting for the purpose than an expedition to 
Dobayba, where he had once already attempted in 
vain to penetrate, and where so many of his follow- 
ers had fallen victims to the stratagems and assaults 
of the natives. 



CHAPTER XX. 



SECOND EXPEDITION OF VASCO NUNEZ IN QUEST 
OF THE GOLD TEMPLE OF DOBAYBA. 

The rich mines of Dobayba, and the treasures 
of its golden temple, had continued to form a fa- 
vourite theme with the Spanish adventurers. It 
was ascertained that Vasco Nunez had stopped 
short of the wealthy region on his former expedi- 
tion, and had mistaken a frontier village for the re- 
sidence of the cacique. The enterprise of the tem- 
ple was, therefore, still to be achieved ; and it was 
solicited by several of the cavaliers in the train of 
Pedrarias, with all the chivalrous ardour of that 



i5i 4-] VASCONUfiEZ DE BALBOA. 1^ 

romantic age. Indeed common reporthad invested 
the enterprise with difficulties and danger sufficient 
to stimulate the ambition of the keenest seeker of 
adventure. The savages who inhabited that part 
of the country were courageous and adroit. They 
fought by water as well as by land, forming am- 
buscades with their canoes in the bays and rivers. 
The country was intersected by dreary fens and 
morasses, infested by all kinds of reptiles. Clouds 
of gnats and mustjuitoes filled the air; there were 
large bats also, supposed to have the baneful pro- 
perties of the vampire; alligators lurked in the 
waters, and the gloomy recesses of the fens Avere 
said to be the dens of dragons ! ' 

Besides these objects of terror, both true and 
fabulous, the old historian, Peter Martyr, makes 
mention of another monstrous animal, said to infest 
this golden region, and which deserves to be cited, 
as showing the imaginary dangers with which the 
active minds of the discoverers peopled the unex- 
plored wilderness around them. 

According to the tales of the Indians, there 
had occurred, shortly before the arrival of the Spa- 
niards, a violent tempest or rather hurricane in the 
neighbourhood of Dobayba, which demolished 
houses, tore up trees by the roots, and laid waste 
whole forests. When the tempest had subsided 
and the affrighted inhabitants ventured to look 
abroad, they found that two monstrous animals 
had been brought into the country by the hurri- 

' P. Martyr. 



238 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVEItY. f 1 5 1 4 - 

cane. According to their accounts they were not 
unlike the ancient harpies, and one being smaller 
than the other was supposed to be its young. 
They had the faces of women, with the claws and 
wings of eagles, and were of such prodigious size 
that the very boughs of the trees on which they 
alighted broke beneath them. They would swoop 
down and carry off a man as a hawk would bear 
off a chicken, flying with him to the tops of the 
mountains, where they would tear him in pieces 
and devour him. For some time they were the 
scourge and terror of the land, until the Indians 
succeeded in killing the old one by stratagem, and 
hanging her on their long spears, bore her through 
all the towns to assuage the alarm of the inhabi- 
tants. The younger harpy, says the Indian tra- 
dition, was never seen afterwards. 1 

Such were some of the perils, true and fabu- 
lous, with which the land of Dobayba was said to 
abound; and, in fact, the very Indians had such a 
dread of its dark and dismal morasses, that, in 
their journeyings, they carefully avoided them, 
preferring the circuitous and rugged paths of the 
mountains. 

Several of the youthful cavaliers, as has been 
observed, were stimulated rather than deterred by 
these dangers, and contended for the honour of 
the expedition; but Pedrarias selected his rival 
for the task, hoping, as has been hinted, that it 
would involve him in disgrace. Vasco Nunez 

1 P. Martyr, decad. 7. c. 10. 



i 5 I /{-] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 289 

promptly accepted the enterprise, for his pride 
was concerned in its success. Two hundred reso- 
lute men were given to him for the purpose; but 
his satisfaction was diminished when lie found that 
Luis Carrillo, an officer of Pedrarias, who had 
failed in a perilous enterprise, was associated with 
him in the command. 

Few particulars remain to us of the events of 
this affair. They embarked in a fleet of canoes, 
and, traversing the gulf, arrived at the river which 
flowed down from the region of Dobavba. They 
were not destined, however, to achieve the enter- 
prise of the golden temple. As they were pro- 
ceeding rather confidently and unguardedly up 
the river, they were suddenly surprised and sur- 
rounded by an immense swarm of canoes, filled 
with armed savages, which darted out from lurk- 
ing places along the shores. Some of the Indians 
assailed them with lances, others with clouds of 
arrows, while some, plunging into the water, en- 
deavoured to overturn their canoes. In this way 
one half of the Spaniards were killed or drowned. 
Among the number fell Luis Carrillo, pierced 
through the breast by an Indian lance. Vasco 
Nunez himself was wounded, and had great diffi- 
culty in escaping to the shore with the residue of 
his forces. 

The Indians pursued him and kept up a skir- 
mishing attack, but he beat them off until the night, 
when he silently abandoned the shore of the river, 
and directed his retreat towards Darien. It is 



2/fo SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i5. 

easier to imagine than to describe the toils and 
dangers and horrors which beset him and the 
remnant of his men as they traversed rugged 
mountains, or struggled through these fearful mo- 
rasses of which they had heard such terrific tales. 
At length they succeeded in reaching the settle- 
ment of Darien. 

The partisans of Pedrarias exulted in seeing 
Vasco Nunez return thus foiled and wounded, and 
taunted his adherents with their previous boast- 
ings. The latter, however, laid all the blame 
upon the unfortunate Garrillo. « Vasco Nunez," 
said they, «kad always absolute command in his 
former enterprises, but in this he has been em- 
barrassed by an associate. Had the expedition 
been confided to him alone, the event had been 
far different." 



CHAPTER XXI. 



LETTERS FROM THE KING IN FAVOUR OF VASCO 

NUNEZ. ARRIVAL OF GARABITO. ARREST OF 

VASCO NUNEZ.— (l 5 I 5.) 

About this time despatches arrived from Spain 
that promised to give a new turn to the fortunes 
of Vasco Nunez and to the general affairs of the 
colony. They were written after the tidings of 
«he discovery of the South Sea, and the subju- 



i5i5.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 2.fl 

gation of so many important provinces of the 
Isthmus. In a letter addressed to Vasco Nunez, 
the king expressed his high sense of his merits 
and services, and constituted him Adelantado of 
the South Sea, and Governor of the provinces of 
Panama and Coyba, though subordinate to the 
general command of Pedrarias. A letter was 
likewise written by the king to Pedrarias, in- 
forming him of this appointment, and ordering 
him to consult Vasco Nunez on all public affairs 
of importance. This was a humiliating blow to 
the pride and consequence of Pedrarias, but he 
hoped to parry it. In the meantime, as all letters 
from Spain were first delivered into his hands, he 
withheld that intended for Yasco Nunez, until he 
should determine what course of conduct to adopt. 
The latter, however, heard of the circumstance, as 
did his friend the Bishop of Darien. The prelate 
made loud complaints of this interruption of the 
royal correspondence, which he denounced, even 
from the pulpit, as an outrage upon the rights of 
the subject, and an act of disobedience to the 
sovereign. 

Upon this the governor called a council of his 
public officers; and, after imparting the contents 
of his letter, requested their opinion as to the 
propriety of investing Vasco Nunez with the dig- 
nities thus granted to him. The Alcalde Mayor 
Espinosa, had left the party of the bishop, and 
was now devoted to the governor. He insisted, 
vehemently, that the offices ought in no wise to be 

ii 



242 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i5. 

given to Vasco Nuilez, until the king should be 
informed of the result of the inquest which was 
still going on against him. In this he was warmly 
supported by the treasurer and the accountant. 
The bishop replied, indignantly, that it was pre- 
sumptuous and disloyal in them to dispute the 
commands of the king, and to interfere with the 
rewards conscientiously given by him to a merito- 
rious subject. In this way, he added, they w T ere 
defeating, by their passions, the grateful intentions 
of their sovereign. The governor was overawed 
by the honest warmth of the bishop, and professed 
to accord with him in opinion. The council lasted 
until midnight; and it was finally agreed that the 
titles and dignities should be conferred on Vasco 
Nunez on the following day. 1 

Pedrarias and his officers reflected, however, 
that if the jurisdiction implied by these titles were 
absolutely vested in Vasco Nunez, the govern- 
ment of Darien and Castilla del Oro would vir- 
tually be reduced to a trifling matter; they re- 
solved, therefore, to adopt a middle course; to 
grant him the empty titles, but to make him give 
security not to enter upon the actual government 
of the territories in question, until Pedrarias should 
give him permission. The bishop and Vasco 



1 Oviedo, pari 2. c. 9. MS. Oviedo, the historian, was present 
at this consultation, and says that he wrote down the opinions 
°iven on the occasion, which the parties signed with their proper 

ham's. 



i5l5.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 243 

the present, with securing the titles, and trusting 
to the course of events to get dominion over the 
territories. 1 

The new honours of Vasco Nunez were now 
promulgated to the world, and he was everywhere 
addressed by the title of Adelantado. His old 
friends lifted up their heads with exultation, and 
new adherents flocked to his standard. Parties 
began to form for him and for Pedrarias; for it 
was deemed impossible they could continue long 
in harmony. 

The jealousy of the governor was excited by 
these circumstances; and he regarded the newly- 
created Adelantado as a dangerous rival and an 
insidious foe. Just at this critical juncture, An- 
dres Garabito, the agent of Vasco Nunez, arrived 
on the coast in a vessel which he had procured at 
Cuba, and had freighted with arms and ammu- 
nition, and seventy resolute men, for the secret 
expedition to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. 
He anchored six leagues from the harbour, and 
sent word privately, to Vasco Nunez of his ar- 
rival. 

Information was immediately carried to Pe- 
drarias, that a mysterious vessel, full of armed 
men, was hovering on the coast, and holding se- 
cret communication with his rival. The suspi- 
cious temper of the governor immediately took 
the alarm. He fancied some treasonable plot 
against his authority; his passions mingled with 

1 Ovlcdo, Hist, ltd 



his fears; and, in the first burst of his fury, he 
ordered that Vasco Nunez should be seized and 
confined in a wooden cage. The Bishop of Da- 
rien interposed in time to prevent an indignity 
which it might have been impossible to expiate. 
He prevailed upon the passionate governor, not 
merely to retract the order respecting the cage, 
but to examine the whole matter with coolness and 
deliberation. The result proved that his suspi- 
cions had been erroneous; and that the arma- 
ment had been set on foot without any treasonable 
intent. Vasco Nunez was therefore set at libertv, 
after having agreed to certain precautionary con- 
ditions; but he remained cast down in spirit 'and 
impoverished in fortune, by the harassing mea- 
sures of Pedrarias. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

EXPEDITION OF MORALES AND PIZARRO TO THE 
SHORES OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. — THEIR VISIT 
TO THE PEARL ISLANDS. — THEIR DISASTROUS 
RETURN ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS. 

The Bishop of Darien, encouraged by the suc- 
cess of his intercession, endeavoured to persuade 
the governor to go still further, and to permit the 
departure of Vasco Nunez on his expedition to 
the South Sea. The jealousy of Pedrarias, how- 



1 5 1 5 .] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. lift 

ever, was too strong to permit hirn to listen to such 
counsel. He was»aware of the importance of the 
expedition, and was anxious that the Pearl Islands 
should he explored, which promised such abundant 
treasures; hut he feared to increase the popularity 
of Vasco Nunez, by' adding" such an enterprise to 
the number of 'ftis achievements. Pedrarias, 
therefore, set on foot an expedition, consisting of 
sixty men, but gave the command to one of his 
own relations, named Gaspar Morales. The latter 
was accompanied by Francisco Pizarro, who had 
already been to those parts in the train of Vasco 
Nunez, and who soon rose to importance in the 
present enterprise by his fierce courage and do- 
mineering genius. 

A brief notice of the principal incidents of this 
expedition is all that is necessary for the present 
narration. 

Morales and Pizarro traversed the mountains of 
the isthmus by a shorter and more expeditious 
route than that which had been taken by Vasco 
Nunez, and arrived on the shores of the [South 
Sea at the territories of a cacique named Tutibra, 
by whom they were amicably entertained. Their 
great object was to visit the Pearl Islands : the 
cacique, however, had but four canoes, which were 
insufficient to contain their- whole party. One 
half of their number, therefore, remained at the 
village of Tutibra, under the command of a captain 
named Pefialosa ; the residue embarked in the 
canoes with Morales and Pizarro. After a stormy 



246 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i5- 

and perilous voyage, they landed on o'heofthe 
smaller islands, where they ha>d»-some skirmishing 
with the natives, and thenceinade their way to 
the principal island of the Archipelago-, to which, 
from the report of its great pearl fishery, Vasco 
Nunez had given the name oPJsla Rica. 

The cacique of this island had long been the 
terror of the neighbouring coasts, invading the 
main land with fleets of canoes, and carrying off 
the inhabitants into captivity. His recejption of 
the Spaniards was worthy of his fame. Four times 
did he sally forth to defend his territory, and as 
often was he repulsed with great slaughter. His 
warriors were overwhelmed witlj terror* at the 
fire-arms of the Spaniards, and ati their Ferocious 
bloodhounds. Finding all resistance unavailing, 
the cacique was at length compelled to sue for 
peace. His prayers being granted, he received 
the conquerors into his habitation, which was well 
built, and of immense size. Here he brought 
them asa peace-offering abasketcuriously wrought, 
and filled with pearls of great' beauty. Among 
these Avere two of extraordinary size and value. 
One weighed twenty-five carats; the other was of 
the size of a Muscadine pear, weighing upwards 
of three drachms, send of oriental colour and lustre. 
The cacique considered himself more than repaid 
by a present of hatchets, beads, and hawks-bells : 
and, on the Spaniards smiling at his joy, observed, 
« These things I can turn to useful purpose, but 
of what value are those pearls to me?» 



l 5i-S.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 247 

Finding, however, that these baubles were pre- 
cious in the eyes of the Spaniards, he took Morales 
and Pizarro to the summit of a wooden tower, com- 
manding an unbounded prospect. « Behold before 
vou,» said he, « the infinite sea, which extends 
even beyond the sun-beams. As to these islands 
which lie to the right and left, they are all subject 
to my sway. They possess but little gold, but the 
deep places of the sea around them are full of 
pearls. Continue to be my friends, and you shall 
have as many as you desire; for I value your 
friendship more than pearls, and, as far as in me 
lies, will never forfeit it.» 

He then pointed to the main land, where it 
stretched away toAvards the east, mountain beyond 
mountain, until the summit of the last faded in the 
distance, and was scarcely seen above the watery 
horizon. In that direction, he said, there lay a vast 
country of inexhaustible riches, inhabited by a 
mighty nation. He went on to repeat the vague 
but wonderful rumours which the Spaniards had 
frequently heard about the great kingdom of Peru. 
Pizarro listened greedily to his words, and while his 
eye followed the finger of the cacique, as it ranged 
along the line of shadowy coast, his daring mind 
kindled with the thought of seeking this golden 
empire beyond the waters. 1 

Before leaving the island, the two captains im- 
pressed the cacique with so great an idea of the 
power of the King of Castile, that he agreed to 

1 Hen-era, d. 2. 1. i. c. iv. V. Martyr, d. 3. e. x. 



248 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i5. 

become Iris vassal, and to render him an annual 
tribute of one hundred pounds weight of pearls. 

The party having returned in safety to the main 
land, though to a different place from that where 
they had embarked, Gaspar Morales sent his rela- 
tion, Bernardo Morales, with ten men, in quest of 
Penalosa and his companions, who had remained 
in the village of Tutibra. 

Unfortunately for the Spaniards, during the 
absence of the commanders, this Penalosa had 
so exasperated the natives by his misconduct, that 
a conspiracy had been formed by the caciques 
along the coast to massacre the whole of the 
strangers, when the party should return from the 
islands. 

Bernardo Morales and his companions, on their 
way in quest of Peilalosa, put up for the night in 
the village of a cacique named Chuchama, who 
was one of the conspirators. They were enter- 
tained with pretended hospitality. In the dead 
of the night, however, the house in which they 
were sleeping was wrapped in flames, and most of 
them were destroyed. Chuchama then prepared 
with his confederates to attack the main body 
of the Spaniards who remained with Morales and 
Pizarro. 

Fortunately for the latter, there was among the 
Indians Avho had accompanied them to the islands 
a cacique named Chiruca, who was in secret cor- 
respondence with the conspirators. Some cir- 
cumstances in his conduct excited their suspi- 



i5io.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALHOA. zfy 

cions; they put him to the torture, and drew 
from him a relation of the massacre of their 
companions, and of the attack with which they 
were menaced. 

Morales and Pizarro were at first appalled by 
the overwhelming danger which surrounded them. 
Concealing their agitation, however, they com- 
pelled Chiruca to send a message to each of the 
confederate caciques, inviting him to a secret 
conference, under pretence of giving him impor- 
tant information. The caciques came at the sum- 
mons: they were thus taken one by one to the 
number of eighteen, and put in chains. Just at this 
juncture Peualosa arrived with the thirty men who 
had remained with him at Tutibra. Their arrival 
was hailed with joy by their comrades, who had 
given them up for lost. Encouraged by this un- 
expected reinforcement, the Spaniards now at- 
tacked by surprise the main body of confederate 
Indians, who being ignorant of the discovery of 
their plot and capture of their caciques, were 
awaiting the return of the latter in a state of ne- 
gligent security. 

Pizarro led the van, and set upon the enemy at 
day-break with the old Spanish war-cry of San- 
tiago! It was a slaughter rather than a battle, 
for the Indians were unprepared for resistance. 
Before sun-rise, seven hundred lay dead upon the 
field. Returning from the massacre, the com- 
manders doomed the caciques who were in chains 
to be torn in pieces by the bloodhounds; nor was 



250 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i.l 

even Chiruca spared from this sanguinary sen- 
tence. Notwithstanding this bloody revenge, the 
vindictive spirit of the commanders was still un- 
appeased, and they set off to surprise the village 
of a cacique named Biru, who dwelt on the eastern 
side of the Gulf of St Michael. He w r as famed for 
valour and for cruelty: his dwelling was sur- 
rounded by the weapons and other trophies of 
those whom he had vanquished ; and he was said 
never to give quarter. 

The Spaniards assailed his village before day- 
break with fire and sword, and made dreadful 
havoc. Biru escaped from his burning habitation, 
rallied his people, kept up a galling fight through- 
out the greater part of that day, and handled the 
Spaniards so roughly, that, when he drew off at 
night, they did not venture to pursue him, but re- 
turned right gladly from his territory. According 
to some of the Spanish writers, the kingdom of 
Peru derived its name from this Avarlike cacique, 
through a blunder of the early discoverers; the 
assertion, however, is believed to be erroneous. 

The Spaniards had pushed their bloody revenge 
to an extreme, and were now doomed to suffer 
from the recoil. In the fury of their passions, 
they had forgotten that they were but a handful 
of men surrounded by savage nations. Returning 
wearied and disheartened from the battle with 
Biru, they were waylaid and assaulted by a host 
of Indians led on by the son of Chiruca. A ja- 
velin from his hand pierced one of the Spaniards 



I&I5.J VASCO TSUNEZ DE BALBOA. Iji 

through the breast, and came out between the 
shoulders; several others were wounded, and the 
remainder were harassed by a galling fire kept 
up from among rocks and bushes. 

Dismayed at the implacable vengeance they 
had aroused, the Spaniards hastened to abandon 
these hostile shores and make the best of their 
way back to Darien. The Indians, however, 
were not to be appeased by the mere departure of 
the intruders. They followed them perseveringly 
for seven days, hanging on their skirts, and harass- 
ing them by continual alarms. Morales and Pi- 
zarro, seeing the obstinacy of their pursuit, en- 
deavoured to gain a march upon them by strata- 
gem. Making large fires as usual one night about 
the place of their encampment, they left them burn- 
ing to deceive the enemy while they made a rapid 
retreat. Among their number was one poor fel- 
low named Velasquez, who was so grievously 
wounded that he could not walk. Unable to ac- 
company his countrymen in their flight, and dread- 
ing to fall into the merciless hands of the savages, 
he determined to hang himself, nor could the 
prayers and even tears of his comrades dissuade 
him from his purpose. 

The stratagem of the Spaniards, however, was 
unavailing. Their retreat was perceived, and 
at day-break, to their dismay, they found them- 
selves surrounded by three squadrons of sa- 
vages. Unable, in their haggard state, to make 
head against so many foes, they remained drawn 



252 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i5. 

up all day on the defensive, some watching: while 
others reposed. At night they lit their fires and 
again attempted to make a secret retreat. The 
Indians, however, were as usual on their traces, 
and wounded several with arrows. Thus pressed 
and goaded, the Spaniards became desperate, and 
fought like madmen, rushing upon the very darts 
of the enemy. 

Morales now resorted to an inhuman and fruit- 
less expedient to retard his pursuers. He caused 
several Indian prisoners to be slain, hoping that 
their friends would stop to lament over them ; but 
the sight of their mangled bodies only increased 
the fury of the savages and the obstinacy of their 
pursuit. 

For nine days were the Spaniards hunted in 
this manner about the woods and mountains, the 
swamps and fens, wandering they knew not 
whither, and returning upon their steps, until, to 
their dismay, they found themselves in the very 
place where, several days previously, they had 
been surrounded by the three squadrons. 

Many now began to despair of ever escaping 
with life from this trackless wilderness, thus teem- 
ing with deadly foes. It was with difficulty their 
commanders could rally their spirits, and encou- 
rage them to persevere. Entering a thick forest 
they were again assailed by a band of Indians, but 
despair and fury gave them strength: they fought 
like wild beasts rather than like men, and routed 
the foe with dreadful carnage. They had hoped 



ioi5] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA, 

to gain a breathing time by this victory, but a 
new distress attended them. They got entangled 
in one of those deep and dismal marshes which 
abound on those coasts, and in which the wanderer 
is often drowned or suffocated. For a whole day 
they toiled through brake and bramble, and miry 
fen, with the water reaching to their girdles. At 
length they extricated themselves from the swamp, 
and arrived at the sea-shore. The tide was out, 
but was about to return, and on this coast it rises 
rapidly to a great height. Fearing to be over- 
whelmed by the rising surf, they hastened to climb 
a rock out of reach of the swelling waters. Here 
they threw themselves on the earth panting Avith 
fatigue and abandoned to despair. A savage wil- 
derness, filled with still more savage foes, was on 
one side, on the other the roaring sea. How were 
they to extricate themselves from these surround- 
ing perils? While reflecting on their desperate 
situation, they heard the voices of Indians. On 
looking cautiously round, they beheld four canoes 
entering a neighbouring creek. A party was im- 
mediately despatched, who came upon the savages 
by surprise, drove them into the woods, and seized 
upon the canoes. In these frail barks the Spaniards 
escaped from their perilous neighbourhood, and, 
traversing the Gulf of St Michael, landed in a less 
liostile part, from whence they set out a second 
time, across the mountains. 

It is needless to recount the other hardships 
they endured, and their further conflicts with the 



254 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [l5l5. 

Indians; suffice it to sav, after a series of almost 
incredible sufferings and disasters, they at length 
arrived in a battered and emaciated condition at 
Darien. Throughout all their toils and troubles, 
however, they had managed to preserve a part of 
the treasure they had gained in the islands; espe- 
cially the pearls given them by the cacique of Isla 
Rica. These were objects of universal admiration. 
One of them was put up at auction, and bought by 
Pedrarias, and was afterwards presented by his 
wife Dona Isabella de Bobadilla to the Empress, 
who, in return, gave her four thousand ducats. 1 

Such was the cupidity of the colonists, that the 
sight of these pearls and the reputed wealth of 
the islands of the Southern Sea, and the kingdoms 
on its borders, made far greater impression on 
the public mind, than the tale told by the adven- 
turers of all the horrors they had past; and every 
one was eager to seek these wealthy regions 
beyond the mountains. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



UNFORTUNATE ENTERPRISES OF THE OFFICERS OF 
PEDRARIAS. MATRIMONIAL COMPACT BE- 
TWEEN THE GOVERNOR AND VASCO NUNEZ. 

In narrating the preceding expedition of Mo- 
rales and Pizarro, we have been tempted into 

1 Herrera, Hist. Ind. 



i5i5.] YASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 255 

what may almost foe deemed an episode, though it 
serves to place in a proper light the lurking diffi- 
culties and dangers which heset the expeditions of 
Vasco Nunez to the same regions, and his superior 
prudence and management in avoiding them. It 
is not the object of this narrative, however, to 
record ihe general events of the colonv under the 
administration of Don Pedrarias Davila. We re- 
frain, therefore, from detailing various expeditions 
set on foot by him to explore and subjugate the 
surrounding countrv;and which, being ignorantly 
or rashly conducted, too often ended in misfortune 
and disgrace. One of these was to the province 
of Zenu, where gold was supposed to be taken in 
the rivers in nets; and where the Bachelor Enciso 
once undertook to invade the sepulchres. A cap- 
tain named Francisco Becerra penetrated into this 
country at the head of one hundred and eighty 
men, well aimed and equipped, and provided with 
three pieces of artillery; but neither the com- 
mander nor any of his men returned. An Indian 
boy who accompanied them was the only one who 
escaped, and told the dismal tale of their having 
fallen victims to the assaults and stratagems and 
poisoned arrows of the Indians. 

Another band was defeated by Tubanama, the 
ferocious cacique of the mountains, who bore as 
banners the bloody shirts of the Spaniards he had 
slain in former battles. In fi ne, the colony became 
so weakened by these repeated. losses, and the sa- 
vages so emboldened by success, that the latter 



256 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5l5. 

beleaguered it with their forces, harassed it by 
assaults and ambuscades, and reduced it to great 
extremity. Such was the alarm in Darien, says 
the Bishop Las Casas, that the people feared to be 
burnt in their houses. They kept a watchful eye 
upon the mountains, the plains, and the very 
branches of the trees. Their imaginations were 
infected by their fears. If they looked toward 
the land, the long waving grass of the savan- 
nahs appeared to them to be moving hosts of 
Indians. If they looked towards the sea, they 
fancied they beheld fleets of canoes in the distance. 
Pedrarias endeavoured to prevent all rumours 
from abroad that might increase this fevered state 
of alarm ; at the same time he ordered the smelting- 
house to be closed, which was never done but in 
time of war. This was done at the suggestion of 
the Bishop, who caused prayers to be put up, and 
fasts proclaimed, to avert the impending cala- 
mities. 

While Pedrarias was harassed and perplexed 
by these complicated evils, he was haunted by con- 
tinual apprehensions of the ultimate ascendancy of 
Vasco Nunez. He knew him to be beloved by 
the people, and befriended by the Bishop; and he 
had received proofs that his services were highly 
appreciated by the king. He knew also that re- 
presentations had been sent home by him and his 
partisans, of the evils and abuses of the colony 
under the present rule, and of the necessity of a 
more active and efficient governor. He dreaded 



1 5 1 5 . ] VASCO NDSEZ Dfc BALBOA. :>')- 

lest these representations shoiild ultimately suc- 
ceed; that lie should be undermined in the royal 
favour, and Vasco Nunez be elevated upon his 
ruins. 

The politic bishop perceived -the uneasy state of 
the governor's mind, and endeavoured, by means 
of his apprehensions, to effect that reconciliation 
which he had sought in vain to produce through 
more generous motives. He represented to him 
that his treatment of Vasco Nuiiez was odious in 
the eves of the people, and must eventually draw 
on him the displeasure of his sovereign. "But 
why persist,)) added he, « in driving a man to be- 
come your deadliest enemy, whom you may 
grapple to your side as your firmest friend? You 
have several daughters — give him one in marriage; 
you will then have for a son-in-law a man of 
merit and popularity, who is a hidalgo by birth, 
and a favourite of the king. You are advanced 
in life and infirm; he is in the prime and vigour 
of his days, and possessed of great activity. You 
can make him your lieutenant; and wile your 
repose from your toils, he can carry on the affairs 
of the colony Avith spirit and enterprise; and all 
his achievements will redound to the advance- 
ment of your family and the splendour of your 
administration, n 

The governor and his lady were won by the 
eloquence of the bishop, and readily listened to 
his suggestion ; and Vasco Nunez was but too 
happy to effect a reconciliation on such flattering 

1 1. 



9.58 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i6. 

terms. Written articles were accordingly drawn 
up and exchanged, contracting a marriage be- 
tween him and the eldest daughter of Pedrarias. 
The young lady was then in Spain, but was to be 
sent for, and the nuptials were to be celebrated 
on her arrival at Darien. 

Having thus fulfilled his office of peace-maker, 
and settled, as he supposed, all feuds and jealou- 
sies on the sure and permanent foundation of fa- 
mily alliance, the worthy bishop departed shortly 
afterwards for Spain. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



VASCO NUNEZ TRANSPORTS SHIPS ACROSS THE 
MOUNTAINS TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, — ( I 5 1 6.) 

Behold Vasco Nunez once more in the high ca- 
reer of prosperity ! His most implacable enemy 
had suddenly been converted into his dearest 
friend ; for the governor, now that he looked upon 
him as his son-in-law, loaded him with favours. 
Above all, he authorised him to build brigantines 
and make all the necessary preparations for his 
long-desired expedition to explore the Southern 
Ocean. The place appointed for these purposes 
was the port of Careta, situated to the west of 
Darien ; from whence there was supposed to be 
the most convenient route across the mountains. 



i5i6.] VASCO NUXEZ DE BALBOA. 2DO, 

A town called Acla bad been founded at this port; 
and tbe fortress was already erected, of which 
Lope de Olano was alcalde ; Vasco Nunez was 
now empowered to continue tbe building of tbe 
town. Two hundred men were placed under his 
command to aid him in carrying his plans into 
execution, and a sum of money was advanced to 
him out of the royal treasury. His supply of 
funds, however, was not sufficient; but he re- 
ceived assistance from a private source. There 
was a notary at Darien, named Hernando de Ar- 
guello, a man of some consequence in the commu- 
nity, and who had been one of the most furious 
opponents of the unfortunate Nicuesa. He had 
amassed considerableproperty, and now embarked 
a great part of it in the proposed enterprise, on 
condition, no doubt, of sharing largely in its anti- 
cipated profits. 

On arriving at Acla, Vasco Nunez set to work 
to prepare the materials of four brigantines that 
were to be launched into the South Sea. The 
timber was felled on the Atlantic seaboard; and 
was then, with the anchors and rigging, trans- 
ported across the lofty ridge of mountains to the 
opposite shores of the Isthmus. Several Spa- 
niards, thirty Negroes, and a great number of 
Indians, were employed for the purpose. They 
had no other roads but Indian paths, straggling 
through almost impervious forests, across torrents, 
and up rugged defiles, broken by rocks and pre- 
cipices. In this way they toiled like ants up the 



260 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i6. 

mountains with their ponderous burthens, under 
the scorching rays of a tropical sun. Many of 
the poor Indians sank by the way and perished 
under this stupendous task. The Spaniards and 
Negroes, being of hardier constitutions, were 
better able to cope with the incredible hardships 
to which they were subjected. On the summit of 
the mountains a house had been provided for 
their temporary repose. After remaining here a 
little time to refresh themselves and gain new 
strength, they renewed their labours, descending 
the opposite side of the mountains until they 
reached the navigable part of a river, which they 
called the Balsas, and which flowed into the 
Pacific. 

Much time and trouble, and many lives, were 
expended on this arduous undertaking, before 
they had transported to the river sufficient timber 
for two brigantines ; while the timber for the 
other two, and the rigging and munitions for the 
whole, yet remained to be brought. To add to 
their difficulties, they had scarcely begun to work 
upon the timber before they discovered that it 
was totally useless, being subject to the ravages 
of the worms from having been cut in the vicinity 
of salt water. They were obliged, therefore, to 
begin anew, and fell trees on the border of the 
river. 

Vasco Nufiez maintained his patience and per- 
severance, and displayed admirable management 
under these delays and difficulties. Their supply 



l5l6.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 261 

of food being scanty, he divided his people, Spa- 
niards, Negroes and Indians, into three bands; 
one was to cut and saw the wood, another to 
bring the rigging and iron-work from Acla, which 
was twenty-two leagues distant; and the third to 
forage the neighbouring country for provisions. 

Scarcely was the timber felled and shaped for 
use when the rains set in, and the river swelled 
and overflowed its banks so suddenly, that the 
workmen barely escaped with their lives, by 
clambering into the trees; while the wood on 
which they had been working was either buried 
in sand or slime, or swept away by the raging tor- 
rent. Famine was soon added to their other dis- 
tresses. The foraging party was absent and did 
not return with food ; and the swelling of the 
river cut them off from that part of the country 
from whence they obtained their supplies. They 
were reduced, therefore, to such scarcity, as to be 
fain to assuage their hunger with such roots as 
they could gather in the forests. 

In this extremity the Indians bethought them- 
selves of one of their rude and simple expedients. 
Plunging into the river they fastened a number of 
logs together with withes, and connected them 
with the opposite bank, so as to make a floating 
bridge. On this a party of the Spaniards crossed 
with great difficulty and peril, from the violence 
of the current, and the flexibility of the bridge, 
which often sank beneath them until the water 
rose above their girdles. On being safely landed, 



262 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i6. 

they foraged the neighbourhood, and procured a 
supply of provisions sufficient for the present 
emergency. 

When the river subsided, the workmen again re- 
sumed their labours ; a number of recruits arrived 
from Acla, bringing various supplies, and the 
business of the enterprise was pressed with re- 
doubled ardour, until at length, after a series of 
incredible toils and hardships, Vasco Nunez had 
the satisfaction to behold two of his brigantines 
floating on the river Balsas. As soon as they 
could be equipped for sea, he embarked in them 
with as many Spaniards as they could carry ; and, 
issuing forth from the river, launched triumph- 
antly on the great ocean he had discovered. 

We can readily imagine the exultation of this 
intrepid adventurer, and how amply he was re- 
paid for all his sufferings, when he first spread a 
sail upon that untraversed ocean, and felt that the 
range of an unknown world was open to him. 

There are points in the history of these Spa- 
nish discoveries of the western hemisphere, that 
make us pause with wonder and admiration at the 
daring spirit of the men who conducted them, 
and the appalling difficulties surmounted by their 
courage and perseverance. We know few in- 
stances, however, more striking than this piece- 
meal transportation, across the mountains of Da- 
rien, of the first European ships that ploughed the 
waves of the Pacific; and we can readily excuse 
the boast of the old Castilian writers ; when they 



l5l6.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 263 

exclaim" that none but Spaniards eonld ever have 
conceived or persisted in such an undertaking; 
and no commander in the new world but Vasco 
Nunez could have conducted it to a successful 
issue, u 1 



CHAPTER XXV. 



CRUISE OF VASCO NUNEZ IN THE SOUTHERN SEA. 
— RUMOURS FROM ACLA. 

The first cruise of Vasco Nunez was to the group 
of Pearl Islands, on the principal one of which he 
disembarked the greater part of his crews, and 
despatched the brigantines to the main land to 
bring off the remainder. It was his intention to 
construct the other two vessels of his proposed 
squadron at this island. During the absence of 
the brigantines he ranged the island with his men, 
to collect provisions and to establish a complete 
sway over the natives. On the return of his 
vessels, and while preparations were making for 
the building of the others, he embarked with a 
hundred men, and departed on a reconnoitering 
cruise to the eastward, towards the region pointed 
out by the Indians as abounding in riches. 

Having passed about twenty leagues beyond 
the Gulf of San Miguel, the mariners were filled 
with apprehension at beholding a great number 



7.64 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i6. 

of whales, which resembled a reef of rocks stretch- 
ing far into the sea, and lashed by breakers. In 
an unknown ocean like this every unusual object 
is apt to inspire alarm. The seamen feared to ap- 
proach these fancied dangers in the dark; Vasco 
Nuuez anchored, therefore, for the night under a 
point of land, intending to continue in the same 
direction on the following day. When the morn- 
ing dawned, however, the wind had changed, and 
was contrary ; whereupon he altered his course, 
and thus abandoned a cruise, which, if persevered 
in, might have terminated in the discovery of Peru ! 
Steering for the main land, he anchored on that 
part of the coast governed by the cacique Chu- 
chama, who had massacred Bernardo Morales and 
his companions, when reposing in his village. 
Here landing with his men, Vasco Nunez came 
suddenly upon the dwelling of the cacique. The 
Indians sallied forth to defend their homes, but 
were routed with great loss ; and ample vengeance 
Avas taken upon them for their outrage upon the 
laws of hospitality. Having thus avenged the 
death of his countrymen, Vasco Nunez re-em- 
barked and returned to Isla Rica. 

He now applied himself diligently to complete 
the building of his brigantines, despatching men 
to Acla to bring the necessary stores and rigging 
across the mountains. While thus occupied, a 
rumour reached him that a new governor named 
Lope de Sosa was coming out from Spain to su- 
persede Pedrarias. Vasco Nunez was troubled at 



i5iG.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 265 

these tidings. A new governor would be likely to 
adopt new measures, or to have new favourites. 
He feared, therefore, that some order might come 
to suspend or embarrass his expedition; or that 
the command ot it might be given to another. In 
his perplexity be held a consultation with several 
of bis confidential officers. 

After some debate, it Avas agreed among them 
that a trusty and intelligent person should be sent 
as a scout to Acla, under pretence of procuring 
munitions for the ships. Should he find Pedra- 
rias in quiet possession of the government, he was 
to account to him for the delay of the expedition ; 
to request that the time allotted to it might be 
extended, and to request reinforcements and sup- 
plies. Should he find, however, that a new go- 
vernor was actually arrived, he was to return im- 
mediately with the tidings. In such case it was 
resolved to put to sea before any contrary orders 
could arrive, trusting eventually to excuse them- 
selves on the plea of zeal and good intentions. 



CHAPTER XXYI. 



RECONNOITERING EXPEDITION OF GABALITO. 

STRATAGEM OF PEDflARIAS TO ENTRAP VASCO 
NUNEZ. 

The person entrusted with the reconnoitering 
expedition to Acla was Andres Garabito, in 

\x 



9,66 SPANISH VOYAGES OF 'DISCOVERY. [i5i6. 

whose fidelity and discretion Vasco Nunez had 
implicit confidence. His confidence was destined 
to be fatally deceived. According to the asser- 
tions of contemporaries, this Garabito cherished a 
secret and vindictive enmity against his com- 
mander, arising from a simple hut a natural cause. 
Vasco Nunez had continued to have a fondness 
for the Indian damsel, daughter of the cacique 
Gareta, whom he had received from her father as 
a pledge of amity. Some dispute arose concerning 
her on one occasion between him and Garabito, in 
the course of which he expressed himself in severe 
and galling language. Garabito was deeply mor- 
tified at some of his expressions, and, being of a 
malignant spirit, determined on a dastardly re- 
venge. He wrote privately to Pedrarias, assuring 
him that Vasco Nunez had no intention of So- 
lemnizing his marriage with his daughter, being 
completely under the influence of an Indian para- 
mour; that he made use of the friendship of Pe- 
drarias merely to further his own selfish views, 
intending, as soon as his ships were ready, to 
throw off all allegiance, and to put to sea as an 
independent commander. 

This mischievous letter Garabito had written 
immediately after the last departure of Vasco 
Nunez from Acla. Its effects upon the proud 
and jealous spirit of the governor may easily be 
conceived. All his former suspicions were imme- 
diately revived. They acquired strength during 
a long interval that elapsed without tidings being 



i5l6.] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 267 

received from the expedition. There were design- 
ing and prejudiced persons at hand, who perceived 
and quickened these jealous feelings of the go- 
vernor. Among these was the Bachelor Corral, 
who cherished a deep grudge against Vasco Nunez, 
for having once thrown him into prison for his 
factious conduct; and Alonzo de la Puente, the 
royal treasurer, whom Yasco Nunez had affronted 
by demanding the repayment of a loan. Such 
was the tempest that was gradually gathering in 
the factious little colony of Darien. 

The subsequent conduct of Garabito gives 
much confirmation to the charge of perfidy that 
has been advanced against him. When he arrived 
at Acla he found that Pedrarias remained in pos- 
session of the government ; for his intended suc- 
cessor had died in the very harbour. The conduct 
and conversation of Garabito was such as to arouse 
suspicions ; he was arrested, and his papers and 
letters were sent to Pedrarias. When examined, 
he readily suffered himself to be wrought upon by 
threats of punishment and promises of pardon, 
and revealed all that he knew, and declared still 
more that he suspected and surmised, of the plans 
and intentions of Yasco Nunez. 

The arrest of Garabito, and the seizure of his 
letters, produced a great agitation at Darien. It 
was considered a revival of the ancient animosity 
between the governor and Vasco Nunez, and the 
friends of the latter trembled for his safety. 

Hernando de Arguello, especially, was in great 



268 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i6. 

alarm. He had embarked the most of his fortune 
in the expedition, and the failure of it would be 
ruinous to him. He wrote to Vasco Nunez in- 
forming' him of the critical posture of affairs, and 
urging him to put to sea without delay. He would 
be protected at all events, he said, by the Jeroni- 
mite Fathers at San Domingo, who were at that 
time all-powerful in the new world, and who re- 
garded his expedition as calculated to promote the 
glory of God as well as the dominion of the king. 1 
This letter fell into the hands of Pedrarias, and 
convinced him of the existence of a dangerous 
plot against his authority. He immediately or- 
dered Arguello to be arrested; and now devised 
means to get Vasco Nunez within his power. 
While the latter remained on the shores of the 
South Sea with his brigantines and his band of 
hearty and devoted followers, Pedrarias knew 
that it would be in vain to attempt to take him by 
force. Dissembling his suspicions and intentions, 
therefore, he wrote to him in the most amicable 

1 la consequence of the eloquent representations made to the 
Spanish government by the venerable Las Casas, of the cruel 
wrongs and oppressions practised upon the Indians in the colonies, 
the Cardinal Ximenes, in i5i.6, sent out three Jeronimite Friars, 
chosen for their zeal and abilities, clothed with full powers to in- 
quire into and remedy all abuses, and to take all proper measures 
for the good government, religious instruction, and effectual pro- 
tection of the natives. The exercise of their powers at San Do- 
mingo made a great sensation in the New World, and, for a lime, 
had a beneficial effect in checking the oppressive and licentious 
conduct of the colonists. 



i5i6.] VASCO NUSEZ DE BALBOA. 269 

terms, requesting him to repair immediately to 
Ada, is he wished to hold a conference with him 
about the impending 1 expedition. Fearing, how- 
ever, that Vasco Nunez might suspect his motives 
and 1 1 fuse to comply, he at the same time ordered 
Francisco Pizarro to muster all the armed force 
he could collect, and to seek and arrest his late 
patron and commander wherever he might he 
found. 

So great was the terror inspired by the arrest 
of Arguello, and by the general violence of Pedra- 
rias, that, though Vasco Nunez was a favourite 
with the great mass of the people, no one ven- 
tured to warn him of the danger that attended his 
return to Acla. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



VASCO NUNEZ AND THE ASTROLOGER.— HIS RE- 
TURN TO ACLA. 

The old Spanish writers who have treated of the 
fortunes of Vasco Nunez, record an anecdote 
which is worthy of being cited, as characteristic of 
the people and the age. Among the motley crowd 
of adventurers lured across tlie ocean by the re- 
puted wealth and wonders of the New World, was 
an Italian astrologer, a native of Venice, named 
Micer Codro. At the time that Vasco Nunez held 
supreme sway at Darien, this reader of the stars 



27O SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [l5i6. 

had cast his horoscope, and pretended to foretel 
his destiny. Pointing one night to a certain star, 
he assured him that in the year in which he should 
behold that star in a part of the heavens which he 
designated, his life would be in imminent jeopardy ; 
but should he survive this year of peril, he would 
become the richest and most renowned captain 
throughout the Indies. 

Several years, it is added, had elapsed since this 
prediction was made; yet, that it still dwelt in the 
mind of Vasco Nunez, was evident from the fol- 
lowing circumstance. While waiting the return 
of his messenger, Garabito, he was on the shore 
of Isla Rica one serene evening, in company with 
some of his officers, when, regarding the heavens, 
he beheld the fated star exactly in that part of the 
firmament which had been pointed out by the 
Italian astrologer. Turning to his companions, 
with a smile, "Behold,)) said he, « the Avisdom of 
those who believe in soothsayers, and, above all, 
in such an astrologer as Micer Codro ! According 
to his prophecy,! should now be in imminent peril 
of my life ; yet, here I am, within reach of all my 
wishes; sound in health, with four brigantines 
and three hundred men at my command, and 
on the point of exploring this great southern 
ocean." 

At this fated juncture, say the chroniclers, ar- 
rived the hypocritical letter of Pedrarias, inviting 
him to an interview at Acla ! The discreet reader 
will decide for himself what credit to give to this 



i 5 iG.J VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 27 I 

anecdote, or rather, what allowance to make for 
the little traits of coincidence gratuitously added 
to the original fact by writers who delight in the 
marvellous. The tenor of this letter awakened no 
suspicion in the breast of Vasco Nunez, who re- 
posed entire confidence in the amity of the go- 
vernor as his intended father-in-law, and appears 
to have been unconscious of any thing in his own 
conduct that could warrant hostility. Leaving his 
ships in command of Francisco Compaiion, he de- 
parted immediately to meet the governor at Acla, 
unattended by any armed force. 

The messengers who had brought the letter 
maintained at first a cautious silence as to the 
events which had transpired at Darien. They 
were gradually won, however, by the frank and 
genial manners of Vasco Nunez, and grieved to 
see so gallant a soldier hurrying into the snare. 
Having crossed the mountains, and drawn near to 
Acla, their kind feelings got the better of their 
caution, and they revealed the true nature of their 
errand, and the hostile intentions of Pedrarias. 
Vasco Nunez was struck with astonishment at the 
recital; but, being unconscious, it is said, of any 
evil intention, he could scarcely credit this sudden 
hostility in a man who had but recently promised 
him his daughter in marriage. He imagined the 
whole to be some groundless jealousy which his 
own appearance would dispel, and accordingly 
continued on his journey. He had not proceeded 
far, however, when he was met by a band of armed 



272 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [l5l6. 

men, led by Francisco Pizarro. The latter stepped 
forward to arrest his ancient commander. Vasco 
Nunez paused for a moment, and regarded him 
with a look of reproachful astonishment. « How 
is this, Francisco ?» exclaimed he. « Is this the 
way you have been accustomed to receive me?» 
Offering no further remonstrance, he suffered him- 
self quietly to be taken prisoner by his former 
adherent, and conducted in chains to Acla. Here 
he was thrown into prison, and Bartolome Hur- 
tado, once his favourite officer, was sent to take 
command of his scjuadron. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



TRIAL OF VASCO NUNEZ. 



Don Pedrauias concealed his exultation at the 
success of the stratagem by which he had ensnar- 
ed his generous and confiding rival. He even 
visited him in prison, and pretended deep concern 
at being obliged to treat him with this temporary 
rigour, attributing it entirely to certain accusations 
lodged against him by the Treasurer Alonzo de la 
Puente, which his official situation compelled him 
to notice and investigate. 

« Be not afflicted, however, my son!" said the 
hypocrite, « an investigation will, doubtless, not 



ioi6.J VASCO NILNEZ DE BALBOA. 2^5 

merely establish your innocence, but serve to ren- 
der your zeal and loyalty towards your sovereign 
still more conspicuous." 

While Pedrarias assumed this soothing tone 
towards bis prisoner, be urged the Alcalde Mayor 
Espinosa to proceed against him with the utmost 
rigour of the law. 

The charge brought against him of a treasonable 
conspiracy to cast off all allegiance to the crown, 
and to assume an independent sway on the bor- 
ders of the Southern Sea, was principally sup- 
ported by the confessions of Andres Garabito. 
The evidence is also cited of a soldier, who stood 
sentinel one night near the quarters of Vasco 
Nunez on Isla Rica, and who, being driven to take 
shelter from the rain under the eaves of the house, 
overheard a conversation between that commander 
and certain of his officers, wherein they agreed to 
put to sea with the squadron on their own account, 
and to set the governor at defiance. This testi- 
mony, according to Las Casas, arose from a mis- 
construction on the part of the sentinel, who only 
heard a portion of their conversation, relating to 
their intention of sailing with out waiting for orders, 
in case a new governor should arrive to supersede 
Pedrarias. 

The governor in the meantime informed himself 
from day to day, and hour to hour, of the progress 
of the trial, and, considering the evidence suffici- 
ently strong to warrant his personal hostility, 



2y4 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5iG. 

he now paid another visit to his prisoner, and, 
throwing off all affectation of kindness, upbraided 
him in the most passionate manner. 

« Hitherto, » said he, «I have treated you as a 
son, because I thought you loyal to your king, 
and to me as his representative; but as I find you 
have meditated rebellion against the crown of Cas- 
tile, I cast you off from my affection, and shall 
henceforth treat you as an enemy.» 

Vasco Nunez indignantly repelled the charge, 
and appealed to the confiding frankness of his con- 
duct as a proof of innocence. « Had I been con- 
scious of my guilt,)) said he, « what could have 
induced me to come here and put myself into your 
hands ? Had I meditated rebellion, what prevented 
me from carrying it into effect? I had four ships 
ready to weigh anchor, three hundred brave men 
at my command, and an open sea before me. 
What had I to do but to spread sail and press for- 
ward? There was no doubt of finding a land, 
whether rich or poor, sufficient for me and mine, 
far beyond the reach of your controul. In the 
innocence of my heart, however, I came here 
promptly, at your mere request, and my reward 
is slander, indignity and chains!)) 

The noble and ingenuous appeal of Vasco Nu- 
nez had no effect on the prejudiced feelings of the 
governor : on the contrary, he was but the more 
exasperated against his prisoner, and ordered that 
his irons should be doubled. 

The trial was now urged by him with increased 



i5l6.] VASCO SVSEZ DE BALBOA. 27D 

eagerness. Lest the present accusation should not 
he sufficient to effect the ruin of his victim, the old 
inquest into his conduct as governor, which had 
remained suspended for many years, was revived, 
and he was charged anew with the wrongs inflicted 
on the Bachelor Enciso, and with the death of the 
unfortunate Nicuesa. 

Notwithstanding all these charges the trial went 
on slowly, with frequent delays, for the Alcalde 
Mayor, Gaspar de Espinosa, seems to have had hut 
little relish for the task assigned him, and to have 
needed frequent spurring from the eager and pas- 
sionate governor. He probably considered the 
accused as technically guilty, though innocent of 
all intentional rebellion, but was ordered to decide 
according to the strict letter of the law. He there- 
fore, at length, gave a reluctant verdict against 
Vasco Nunez; but recommended him to mercy, on 
account of his great services, or entreated that, at 
least, he might be permitted to appeal. « No ! » said 
theunrelentingPedrarias,«Ifhe has merited death, 
let him suffer death !» He accordingly condemned 
him to be beheaded. The same sentence was 
passed upon several of his officers, who were im- 
plicated in his alleged conspiracy; among these 
was Hernando de Arguello, who bad written the 
letter to Vasco Nunez, informing him of the ar- 
rest of his messenger, and advising him to put to 
sea, without heeding the hostility of Pedrarias. 
As to the perfidious informer Garabito, he was 
pardoned and set at liberty. 



276 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i6. 

In considering this case as far as we are enabled, 
from the imperfect testimony that remains on re- 
cord, we are inclined to think it one where passion 
and self-interest interfered with the pure admini- 
stration of justice. Pedrarias had always consi- 
dered Vasco Nunez as a dangerous rival, and, 
though his jealousy had been for some time lulled 
by looking on him as an intended son-in-law, it 
was revived by the suggestion that he intended to 
evade his alliance, and to dispute his authority. 
His exasperated feelings hurried him too far to re- 
treat, and, having loaded his prisoner with chains 
and indignities, his death became indispensable to 
his own security. 

For our own part, we have little doubt, that it 
was the fixed intention of Vasco Nunez, after he 
had once succeeded in the arduous undertaking of 
transporting his ships across the mountains, to 
suffer no capricious order from Pedrarias, or any 
other governor, to defeat the enterprise which he 
had so long meditated and for which he had so la- 
boriously prepared. It is probable he may have 
expressed such general determination in the hear- 
ing of Garabito and of others of his companions. 
We can find ample excuse for such a resolution in 
his consciousness of his own deserts: his experi- 
ence of past hindrances to his expedition, arising 
from the jealousy of others; his feeling of some 
degree of authority, from his office of Adelantado ; 
and his knowledge of the favourable disposition 
and kind intentions of his sovereign towards him. 



l 5 i 7 - ] VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 277 

We acquit him entirely of the senseless idea of 
rebelling against the crown; and suggest these 
considerations in palliation of any meditated dis- 
obedience of Pedrarias, should such a charge be 
supposed to have been substantiated. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

EXECUTION OF VASCO NUNEZ. — (1617.) 

It was a day of gloom and horror at Acla, when 
Vasco Nunez and his companions were led forth 
to execution. The populace were moved to tears 
at the unhappy fate of a man, whose gallant deeds 
had excited their admiration, and whose generous 
qualities had won their hearts. Most of them re- 
garded him as the victim of a jealous tyrant ; and 
even those who thought him guilty saw something 
brave and brilliant in the very crime imp'uted to 
him. Such, however, was the general dread in- 
spired by the severe measures of Pedrarias, that 
no one dared to lift up his voice, either in murmur 
or remonstrance. 

The public crier walked before Vasco Nunez, 
proclaiming, « This is the punishment inflicted 
by command of the king and his lieutenant, Don 
Pedrarias Davila, on this man, as a traitor and a 
usurper of the territories of the crown." 

When Vasco Nunez heard these words, he ex- 



278 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5\j. 

claimed, indignantly, « It is false! never did such 
a crime enter my mind. I have ever served my 
king with truth and loyalty, and sought to aug- 
ment his dominions." 

These words were of no avail in his extremity, 
but they were fully believed by the populace. 

The execution took place in the public square 
of Acla ; and we are assured by the historian 
Oviedo, who was in the colony at the time, that 
the cruel Pedrarias was a secret witness of the 
bloody spectacle; which he contemplated from 
between the reeds of the wall of a house, about 
twelve paces from the scaffold I 1 

Vasco Nunez was the first to suffer death. 
Having confessed himself and partaken of the sa- 
crament, he ascended the scaffold Avith a firm step 
and a calm and manly demeanour; and, laying his 
head upon the block, it was severed in an instant 
from his body. Three of his officers, Valderra- 
bano, Botello, and IJernan Muiios, were in like 
manner brought one by one to the block, and the 
day had nearly expired before the last of them 
was executed. 

One victim still remained. It was Hernando de 
Arguello, who had been condemned as an ac- 
complice, for having written the intercepted letter. 

The populace could no longer restrain their 
feelings. They had not dared to intercede for 
Vasco Nunez, knowing the implacable enmity of 
Pedrarias; but they now sought the governor, 

1 Oviedo, Hist. Ind. p. 2, c. 9. MS. 



i 3 i 7- J VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 279 

and, throwing themselves at his feet, entreated 
that this man might be spared, as he had taken no 
active part in the alleged treason. The day- 
light, they said, was at an end, and it seemed as if 
God had hastened the night, to prevent the exe- 
cution. 

The stern heart of Pedrarias was not to be 
touched. « No,» said he, « 1 would sooner die 
myself than spare one of them.» The unfortunate 
Arguello was led to the block. The brief tro- 
pical twilight was past, and in the gathering gloom 
of the night the operations on the scaffold could 
not be distinguished. The multitude stood listen- 
ing in breathless silence, until the stroke of the 
executioner told that all was accomplished. They 
then dispersed to their homes with hearts filled 
with grief and bitterness, and a night of lamenta- 
tion succeeded to this day of horrors. 

The vengeance of Pedrarias was not satisfied 
with the death of his victim; he confiscated his 
property and dishonoured his remains, causing his 
head to be placed upon a pole and exposed for 
several days in the public square. 1 

Thus perished, in his forty-second year, in the 
prime and vigour of his days and the full career of 
his glory, one of the most illustrious and deserving 
of the Spanish discoverers ; a victim to the basest 
and most perfidious envy. 

How vain are our most confident hopes, our 
brightest triumphs ! When Vasco Nunez from the 

< Oviedo, ubi sup. 



280 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5j 7. 

mountains of Darien beheld the Southern Ocean 
revealed to his gaze, he considered its unknown 
realms at his disposal. When he had launched his 
ships upon its waters, and his sails were in a man- 
ner flapping in the wind, to bear him in quest of 
the wealthy empire of Peru, he scoffed at the pre- 
diction of the astrologer, and defied the influence 
of the stars. Behold him interrupted at the very 
moment of his departure, betrayed into the hands 
of his most invidious foe, the very enterprise that 
was to have crowned him with glory wrested into 
a crime, and himself hurried to a bloody and igno- 
minious grave at the foot, as it were, of the moun- 
tain from whence he had made his discovery! His 
fate, like that of his renowned predecessor, Colum- 
bus, proves that it is sometimes dangerous even to 
deserve too greatly. 



THE FORTUNES 



VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 



It was in the year i5i2 that Valdivia, the regidor 
of Darien, was sent to Hispaniola by Vasco Nufiez 
de Balboa for reinforcements and supplies for the 
colony. He set sail in a caravel, and pursued his 
voyage prosperously until be arrived in sight of 
the island of Jamaica. Here he was encountered 
by one of the violent hurricanes which sweep 
those latitudes, and driven on the shoals and 
sunken rocks called the Vipers, since infamous for 
many a shipwreck. His vessel soon went to pieces, 
and Valdivia and his crew, consisting of twenty 
men, escaped with difficulty in the boat, without 
having time to secure a supply either of water or 
provisions. Having no sails, and their oars being 
scarcely fit for use, they were driven about for 
thirteen days, at the mercy of the currents of those 
unknown seas. During this time their sufferings 
from hunger and thirst were indescribable. Seven 
of their number perished, and the rest were nearly 
famished when they were stranded on the eastern 
coast of Yucatan, in a province called Maya. Here 

12. 



282 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 

they were set upon by the natives, who broke their 
boat in pieces, and carried them off captive to the 
cacique of the province, by whose orders they 
were mewed up in a kind of pen. 

At first their situation appeared tolerable enough, 
considering the horrors from which they had es- 
caped. They were closely confined, it is true, but 
they had plenty to eat and drink, and soon began 
to recover flesh and vigour. In a little while, how- 
ever, their enjoyment of this good cheer met with 
a sudden check, for the unfortunate Valdivia, and 
four of his companions, were singled out by the 
cacique, on account of their improved condition, to 
be offered up to his idols. The natives of this coast 
in fact were cannibals, devouring the flesh of their 
enemies and of such strangers as fell into their 
hands. The wretched Valdivia and his fellow vic- 
tims, therefore, were sacrificed in the bloody tem- 
ple of the idol, and their limbs were afterwards 
served up at a grand feast held by the cacique and 
his subjects. 

The horror of the survivors may be more readily 
imagined than described. Their hearts died within 
them when they heard the yells and bowlings of 
the savages over their victims, and the still more 
horrible revelry of their cannibal orgies. They 
turned with loathing from the food set so abund- 
antly before them, at the idea that it Avas but in- 
tended to fatten them for a future banquet. 

Recovering from the first stupor of alarm, their 
despair lent them additional force. They sue- 



i5i3.] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 283 

ceeded in breaking in the night from the kind of 
cage in which they were confined, and fled to the 
depths of the forests. Here they wandered about 
forlorn, exposed to all the dangers and miseries of 
the wilderness ; famishing with hunger, yet dread- 
ing to approach the haunts of men. At length 
their sufferings drove them forth from the woods 
into another part of the country, where they were 
again taken captive. The cacique of this province, 
however, was an enemy to the one from whom 
they had escaped, and of less cruel propensities. 
He spared their lives and contented himself with 
making them slaves, exacting from them the se- 
verest labour. They had to cut and draw wood, 
to procure water from a distance, and to carry 
enormous burthens. The cacique died soon after 
their capture, and was succeeded by another called 
Taxinar. He was a chief of some talent and sa- 
gacity, but he continued the same rigorous treat- 
ment of the captives. By degrees they sank beneath 
the hardships of their lot, until only two were left ; 
one of them a sturdy sailor named Gonzalo Guer- 
rero, the other a kind of clerical adventurer named 
Jeronimo de Aguilar. The sailor had the good 
luck to be transferred to the service of the cacique 
of the neighbouring province of Chatemal, by 
whom he was treated with kindness. Being a 
thorough son of the ocean, seasoned to all wea- 
thers, and ready for any chance or change, he soon 
accommodated himself to his new situation, fol- 
lowed the cacique to the wars, rose by his hardi- 



284 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i3. 

hood and prowess to be a distinguished warrior, 
and succeeded in gaining the heart and hand of an 
Indian princess. 

The other survivor, Jeronimo de Aguilar, was of 
a different complexion. Fie was a native of Ecija, 
in Andalusia, and had been brought up to the 
church, and regularly ordained, and shortly after- 
wards had sailed in one of the expeditions to San 
Domingo, from whence he had passed to Darien. 

He proceeded in a different mode from that 
adopted by his comrade, the sailor, in his dealings 
with the Indians, and in one more suited to his 
opposite calling. Instead of playing the hero 
among the men, and the gallant among the women, 
he recollected his priestly obligations to humility 
and chastity. Accordingly, he made himself a 
model of meekness and obedience to the cacique 
and his warriors, while he closed his eyes to the 
charms of the infidel women. Nay, in the latter 
respect, he reinforced his clerical vows by a solemn 
promise to God to resist all temptations of the 
flesh, so he might be delivered out of the hands of 
these Gentiles. 

Such were the opposite measures of the sailor 
and the saint, and they appear to have been equally 
successful. Aguilar, by his meek obedience to 
every order, however arbitrary and capricious, 
gradually won the good will of the cacique and his 
family. Taxmar, however, subjected him to many 
trials before he admitted him to his entire confi- 
dence. One day when the Indians, painted and de- 



l5i3.] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 285 

corated in warlike style, were shooting at a mark, 
a warrior, who had for some time fixed his eyes on 
Aguilar, approached suddenly and seized him by 
the arm. »Thou seest,» said he, «the certainty 
of these archers, if they aim at the eye, they hit 
the eye — if at the mouth, they hit b the mouth — 
what wouldst thou think, if thou wert to be placed 
instead of the mark, and they were to shoot at and 
miss thee ?» 

Ayuilar secretly trembled lest he should be the 
victim of some cruel caprice of the kind. Dissem- 
bling his fears, however, he replied with great 
submission, «I am your slave, and you may do 
with me as you please; but you are too wise to 
destroy a slave who is so useful and obedient," 
His answer pleased the cacique, who had secretly 
sent this warrior to try his humility. 

Another trial of the worthy Jeronimo was less 
stern and fearful indeed, but equally perplexing. 
The cacique had remarked his unexampled discre- 
tion with respect to the sex, but doubted his sin- 
cerity. After laying many petty temptations in his 
way, which Jeronimo resisted with the self-denial 
of a saint, he at length determined to subject him 
to a fiery ordeal. He accordingly sent him on a 
fishing expedition accompaniedby a buxom damsel 
of fourteen years of age : they were to pass the 
night by the sea-side, so as to be ready to fish at 
the first dawn of day, and were allowed but one 
hammock to sleep in. It was an embarrassing 
predicament — not apparently to thcf Indian beauty, 



386 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5l4- 

but certainly to the scrupulous Jeronimo. He re- 
membered, however, his double vow, and, suspend- 
ing bis hammock to two trees, resigned it to his 
companion ; while, lighting a fire on the sea-shore, 
he stretched himself before it on the sand. It was, 
as he acknowledged, a night of fearful trial, for his 
sandy couch was cold and cheerless, the hammock 
warm and tempting ; and the infidel damsel had 
been instructed to assail him with all manner of 
blandishments and reproaches. His resolution, 
however, though often shaken, was never over- 
come; and the morning dawned upon him still 
faithful to his vow. 

The fishing over, he returned to the residence 
of the cacique, where his companion, being closely 
questioned, made known the triumph of his self- 
denial before all the people. From that time for- 
ward he was held in great respect ; the cacique 
especially treated him with unlimited confidence, 
entrusting to him the care, not merely of his 
house, but of his wives, during his occasional 
absence. 

Aguilar now felt ambitious of rising to greater 
consequence among the savages, but this he knew 
was only to be done by deeds of arms. He had 
the example of the sturdy seaman, Gonzalo Guer- 
rero, before his eyes, who had become a great cap- 
tain in the province in which he resided. He 
entreated Taxmar therefore to entrust him with 
bow and arrows, buckler and war- club, and to 
enroll him among his warriors. The cacique com- 



l5i8.] VALU1VFA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 7.87 

plied. Aguilar soon made himself expert at his 
new weapons, signalized himself repeatedly in 
hattle, and, from his superior knowledge of the arts 
of war. tendered Taxmar such essential service, as 
to excite the jealousy of some of the neighbouring 
caciques. One of them remonstrated with Tax- 
mar for employing a warrior who was of a different 
religion, and insisted that Aguilar should be sacri- 
ficed to their gods, u No,» replied Taxmar, « I 
will not make so base a return for such signal ser- 
vices : surely the gods of Aguilar must be good, 
since they aid him so effectually in maintaining a 
just cause." 

The cacique was so incensed at this reply that 
he assembled his warriors and marched to make 
war upon Taxmar. Many of the counsellors of 
the latter urged him to give up the stranger who 
was the cause of this hostility. Taxmar, however, 
rejected their counsel with disdain, and prepared 
for battle. Aguilar assured him that his faith in 
the Christians' God would be rewarded with vic- 
tory; he, in fact, concerted a plan of battle, which 
was adopted. Concealing himself, with a chosen 
band of warriors, among thickets and herbage, he 
suffered the enemy to pass by in making their 
attack. Taxmar and his host pretended to give 
way at the first onset. The foe rushed heed- 
lessly in pursuit ; whereupon Aguilar and his am- 
buscade assaulted them in the rear. Taxmar turned 
upon them in front; they were thrown into con- 
fusion, routed with sreat slaughter, and many of 



288 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i8. 

their chiefs taken prisoners. This victory gave 
Taxmar the sway over the land, and strengthened 
Aguilar more than ever in his good graces. 

Several years had elapsed in this manner, when 
intelligence was brought to the province of the 
arrival on the neighbouring coast of great vessels 
of wonderful construction, filled with white and 
bearded men, who fought with thunder and light- 
ning. It was, in fact, the squadron of Francisco 
Hernandez de Cordova, then on a voyage of dis- 
covery. The tidings of this strange invasion 
spread consternation through the country, height- 
ened, if we may credit the old Spanish writers, by 
a prophecy current among the savages of these 
parts, and uttered in former times by a priest 
named Chilam Cambal, who foretold that a white 
and bearded people would come from the region 
of the rising sun, who would overturn their idols 
and subjugate the land. 

The heart of Jeronimo de Aguilar beat quick 
with hope when he heard of European ships at 
hand ; he was distant from the coast, however, 
and perceived that he was too closely watched by 
the Indians to have any chance of escape. Dis- 
sembling his feelings, therefore, he affected to 
hear of the ships with perfect indifference, and 
to have no desire to join the strangers. The ships 
disappeared from the coast, and he remained dis- 
consolate at heart, but was regarded with increased 
confidence by the natives. 

His hopes were again revived in the course of 



i5l9-] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 289 

a year or two by the arrival on the coast of other 
ships, which were those commanded by Juan de 
Grijalva, who coasted Yucatan in 1 5 j 8 ; Aguilar, 
however. \\ as again prevented by thejealous watch- 
fulness of the Indians from attempting his escape, 
and when thissquadron left the coast he considered 
all chance of deliverance at an end. 

Seven years had gone by since his capture, and 
he had given up all hopes of being restored to his 
country and friends, when, in 1 5 19, there arrived 
one day at the village three Indians, natives of the 
small island of Cozumel, which lies a few leagues 
in the sea, opposite the eastern coast of Yucatan. 
They brought tidings of another visit of white 
and bearded men to their shores, and one of them 
delivered a letter to Aguilar, which, being entirely 
naked, be had concealed in the long tresses of his 
hair which were bound round his head. 

Aguilar received the letter with wonder and 
delight, and read it in presence of the cacique and 
his warriors. It proved to be from Hernando 
Cortez, who was at that time on his great expedi- 
tion, which ended in the conquest of Mexico. He 
had been obliged bv stress of weather to anchor at 
the island of Cozumel, where he learned from the 
natives that several white men were detained in 
captivity among the Indians on the neighbouring 
coast of Yucatan. Finding it impossible to ap- 
proach the main land with his ships, he prevailed 
upon three of the islanders, by means of gifts and 
promises, to venture upon an embassy among their 

i3 



290 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [1619. 

cannibal neighbours, and to convey a letter to the 
captive white men. Two of the smallest caravels 
of the squadron were sent under the command of 
Diego deOrdas, who was ordered to land the three 
messengers at the point of Cotoche, and to wait 
there eight clays for their return. 

The letter brought by these envoys informed 
the Christian captives of the force and destination 
of the squadron of Cortez, and of his having sent 
the caravels to wait for them at the point of Co- 
toche, with a ransom for their deliverance, invit- 
ing them to hasten and join him at Cozumel. 

The transport of Aguilar on first reading the 
letter, was moderated when he reflected on the 
obstacles that might prevent him from profiting 
by this chance of deliverance. He had made him- 
self too useful to the cacique to hope tliat he would 
readilv give him his liberty, and he knew the jea- 
lous and irritable nature of the savages too well 
not to fear that even an application for leave to 
depart might draw upon him the severest treat- 
ment. He endeavoured, therefore, to operate 
upon the cacique through his apprehensions. To 
this end he informed him that the piece of paper 
which he held in his hand brought him a full 
account of the mighty armament that had arrived 
on the coast. He described the number of the 
ships and various particulars concerning the squa- 
dron, all which were amply corroborated by the 
testimony of the messengers. The cacique and 



i5iy] VALDIYIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 29 I 

of conveying intelligence from a distance, and re- 
garded the letter as something mysterious and 
supernatural. Aguilar went on to relate the tre- 
mendous and superhuman powers of the people 
in these ships, who, armed with thunder and light- 
ning, wreaked destruction on all who displeased 
them, while they dispensed inestimable gilts and 
benefits on such as proved themselves their friends. 
He, at the same time, spread before the cacique 
various presents brought by the messengers, as 
specimens of the blessings to be expected from 
the friendship of the strangers. The intimation 
was effectual. The cacique was Riled with awe at 
the recital of the terrific powers of the white men, 
and his eves were dazzled by the glittering trin- 
kets displayed before him. He entreated Aguilar, 
therefore, to act as his ambassador and mediator, 
and to secure him the amity of the strangers. 

Aguilar saw with transport the prospect of a 
speedy deliverance. In this moment of exulta- 
tion, he bethought himself of the only surviving 
comrade of his past fortunes, Gonsalo Guerrero, 
and, sending the letter of Cortez to him, invited 
him to accompany him in his escape. The sturdy 
seaman was atthis timea great chieftain in his pro- 
vince, and his Indian bride had borne him a nu- 
merous progeny. His heart, however, yearned 
after his native country, and he might have been 
tempted to leave his honours and dignities, his 
infidel wife and half savage offspring behind him, 
but an insuperable, though somewhat ludicrous, 



2g2 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [t5ig. 
obstacle presented itself to his wishes, Having 
long since given overall expectation of a return to 
civilized life, lie had conformed to the customs of 
the country, and had adopted the external signs 
and decorations that marked him as a warrior and 
a man of rank. His face and hands were indelibly 
painted or tattooed; his ears and lips were slit to 
admit huge Indian ornaments, and his nose was 
drawn down almost to his mouth by a massy ring 
of gold, and a dangling jewel. 

Thus curiously garbled and disfigured, the ho- 
nest seaman felt, that, however he might be ad- 
mired in Yucatan, he should be apt to have a 
hooting rabble at his heels in Spain, He made up 
his mind, therefore, to remain a great man among 
the savages, rather than run the risk of being shown 
as a maiv-monster at home. 

Finding that he declined accompanying him, 
Jeronimo de Aguilar set off for the point of Coto- 
che, escorted by three Indians. The time he had 
lost in waiting for Guerrero had nearly proved 
fatal to his hopes, for when he arrived at the point, 
the caravels sent by Cortez had departed, though 
several crosses of reeds set up in different places 
gave tokens of the recent presence of Christians. 

The only hope that remained was, that the squa- 
dron of Cortez might yet linger at the opposite island 
of Cozumel ; but how was he to get there? While 
wandering disconsolately along the shore, he found 
a canoe, half buried in sand and water, and with 
one side in a state of decay ; with the assistance 



1 5t9 ] VALDIVIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. 2g3 

of the Indians he cleaned it, and set it afloat, and 
on looking further he found the stave of a hogs- 
head which might serve for a paddle. It was a 
frail embarkation in which to cross an arm of the 
sea, several leagues wide, but there was no alter- 
native. Prevailing on the Indians to accompany 
him, he launched forth in the canoe and coasted 
the main land until he came to the narrowest part, 
of the strait, where it was but four leagues across; 
here he stood directly for Cozumel, contending, 
as well as he was ahle, with a strong current, and 
at length succeeded in reaching the island. 

He had scarce landed when a party of Spaniards, 
who had been lying in wait, rushed forth from their 
concealment, sword in hand. The three Indians 
would have lied, but Aguilar reassured them, and, 
calling out to the Spaniards in their own language, 
assured them that he was a Christian. Then, 
throwing himself upon his knees, and raising his 
eves streaming with tears to heaven, he gave 
thanks to God for having restored him to his 
counti-vmen. 

The Spaniards gazed at him with astonishment; 
from his language he was evidently a Castilian, but 
to all appearance he was an Indian. He was per- 
fectlv naked ; wore his hair braided round his head 
in the manner of the country, and his complexion 
was burnt by the sun to a tawny colour. lie had 
a bow in his hand, a quiver at his shoulder, and a 
net-work pouch at his side in which he carried his 
provisions. 



294 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5tg. 

The Spaniards proved to be a reconnoifering 
party, sent out by Gortez to watch the approach 
of the canoe, which had been descried coming- from 
Yucatan. Gortez had given up all hopes of being 
joined by the captives, the caravel having waited 
the allotted time at Cotoche, and returned without 
news of them. He had in fact made sail to pro- 
secute his voyage, but fortunately one of his ships 
had sprung a leak, which had obliged him to re- 
turn to the island. 

When Jeronimo de Aguilarand his companions 
arrived in presence of Cortez, who was surrounded 
by his officers, they made a profound reverence, 
squatted on the ground, laid their bows and arrows 
beside them, and touching their right hands, wet 
with spittle on the ground, rubbed them about the 
region of the heart, such being their sign of the 
most devoted submission. 

Cortez greeted Aguilar with a hearty welcome, 
and raising him from the earth, took from his own 
person a large yellow mantle lined with crimson, 
and threw it over his shoulders. The latter, how- 
ever, had for so long a time gone entirely naked, 
that even this scanty covering was at first almost 
insupportable, and he had become so accustomed 
to the diet of the natives, that he found it difficult 
to reconcile his stomach to the meat and drink set 
before him. 

When he had sufficiently recovered from the 
agitation of his arrival among Christians, Cortez 
drew from him the particulars of his story, and 



i5ig.] VALD1VIA AND HIS COMPANIONS. :><) > 

found that he was related to one of his own friends, 
the licentiate Marcos de Aguilar. He treated him, 
therefore, with additional kindness and respect, 
and retained him about his person to aid him as 
an interpreter in his great Mexican expedition. 

The happiness of Jeronimo de Aguilar at once 
more being restored tohis countrymen, wasdoomed 
to suffer some alloy from the disasters that had 
happened in his family. Peter Martyr records a 
touching anecdote of the effect that had been pro- 
duced upon his mother by the tidings of his mis- 
fortune. A vague report had reached her in Spain, 
that her son had fallen into the hands of cannibals. 
All the horrible tales that circulated in Spain con- 
cerning the treatment of these savages to their 
prisoners rushed to her imagination, and she went 
distracted. Whenever she beheld roasted meat, 
or flesh upon the spit, she would fill the house 
with her outcries. «Oh, wretched mother! oh, 
most miserable of women!.-) would she exclaim; 
« behold the limbs of my murdered son ! »' 

It is to be hoped that the tidings of his deliver- 
ance had a favourable effect upon her intellects, 
and that she lived to rejoice at his after fortunes. 
He served Hernando Cortez with great courage 
and ability throughout his Mexican conquests, 
acting sometimes as a soldier, sometimes as in- 
terpreter and ambassador to the Indians, and in 
reward of his fidelity, and services, was appointed 
regidor, or civil governor of the city of Mexico. 

1 P. Martyr, decad. iv. c. 6". 



MIGER GODRO, THE ASTROLOGER. 



The fate of' the Italian astrologer, Micer Codro, 
who predicted the end of Vasco Nunez, is related 
by the historian Oviedo, with some particulars 
that border upon the marvellous. It appears 
that, after the death of his patron, he continued 
for several years rambling about the New World, 
in the train of the Spanish discoverers; but intent 
upon studying the secrets of its natural history, 
rather than searching after its treasures. 

In the course of his wanderings he was once 
coasting the shores of the Southern Ocean, in a 
ship commanded by oneGeronimo de Valenzuela, 
from whom he received such cruel treatment as to 
cause his death, though, what the nature of the 
treatment was, we are not precisely informed. 

Finding his end approaching, the unfortunate 
astrologer addressed Valenzuela in the most so- 
lemn manner: « Captain, » said he, a you have 
caused my death by your cruelty; I now summon 
you to appear with me, within a year, before the 
Judgment Seat of God!» 

The captain made a light and scoffing answer, 
and treated his summons with contempt. 

They were then off the coast of Veragua, near 
the verdant islands of Zebaco, which lie at the 
entrance of the Gulf of Parita or Paris. The poor 



MICER CODRO. 20J 

astrologer gazed wistfully with his dying eyes upon 
the green and shadv groves, and entreated the pilot 
or mate of the caravel to land him on one of the 
islands, that he might die in peace. « Micer 
Codro,» replied the pilot, « those are not islands, 
hut points of land : there are no islands here- 
about." 

(i There are, indeed,') replied the astrologer, 
« two good and pleasant islands, well watered, 
and near to the coast, and within them is a great 
bay with a harbour. Land me, I pray you, upon 
one of these islands, that I may have comfort in 
my dying hour." 

The pilot, whose rough nature had been touched 
with pity for the condition of the unfortunate as- 
trologer, listened to his prayer, and conveyed him 
to the shore, where he found the opinion he had 
given of the character of the coast to be correct. 
He laid him on the herbage in the shade, where 
the poor wanderer soon expired. The pilot then 
dug a grave at the foot of a tree, where he buried 
him with all possible decency, and carved a cross 
on the bark to mark the grave. 

Some time afterwards, Oviedo, the historian, 
was on the island with this very pilot, who showed 
him the cross on the tree, and gave his honest 
testimony to the good character and worthy con- 
duct of Micer Codro. Oviedo, as he regarded the 
nameless grave, passed the eulogium of a scholar 
upon the poor astrologer: « He died, » says he, 
alike Pliny, in the discharge of his duties, travel- 



2g0 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 

ling about the world to explore the secrets of na- 
ture.)) According to his account, the prediction of 
Micer Codro held good with respect to Valen- 
zuela, as it had in the case of Vasco Nunez. — The 
captain died within the term in which he had sum- 
moned him to appear before the tribunal of God ! ' 

' Vide Oviedo, Hist. Gen. I. xxxix. c. 2. 



HAN PONCE DE LEON, 



<<>\ni iMon of pc.i'.to nicr, and discover i-:r of Florida. 



CHAPTER I. 

RECONNOITERING EXPEDITION OF JUAN PONCE DE 
LEON TO THE ISLAND OF BORIQUEN. — (l5o8.) 

Many years bad elapsed since the discovery and 
colonization of Hayti, yet its neighbouring island 
of Boriqucn, or as the Spaniards called it, St Juan 
(since named Porto Rico), remained unexplored. 
It was beautiful to tbe eye as beheld from tbe sea, 
hrving loftv mountains clothed with forest-trees of 
prodigious size and magnificent foliage. There 
were broad fertile valleys also, always fresh and 
green ; for the frequent showers and abundant 
streams in these latitudes, and the absence of all 
wintry frost, produce a perpetual verdure. Va- 
rious ships had occasionally touched at the island, 
but their crews had never penetrated into the in- 
terior. It was evident, however, from the number 
of hamlets and scattered houses, and the smoke 
rising in all directions from among the trees, that 
it was well peopled. The inhabitants still con- 
tinued to enjoy their life of indolence and free- 
dom, unmolested by the ills that overwhelmed 
the neighbouring island of Hayti. The time had 



300 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o8. 

arrived, however, when they were to share the 
common lot of their fellow savages, and to sink 
beneath the yoke of the white man. 

At the time when Nicholas de Ovando, Go- 
vernor of Hispaniola, undertook to lay waste the 
great province of Higuey, Avhich lay at the eastern 
end of Hayti, he sent as commander of part of 
the troops a veteran soldier, named Juan Ponce 
de Leon. He was a native of Leon in Spain, 
and in his boyhood had been page to Pedro 
Nunez de Guzman, Senor of Toral. 1 From an 
early age he had been schooled to war, and had 
served in the various campaigns against the Moors 
of Granada. He accompanied Columbus in his 
second voyage in 1 4-93, and was afterwards, it is 
said, one of the partisans of Francisco Roldan, in 
his rebellion against the admiral. Having distin- 
guished himself in various battles with the Indians, 
and acquired a name foi\sagacity as well as valour, 
be received a command subordinate to Juan de 
Esquibel in the campaign against Higuey, and se- 
conded his chief so valiantly in that sanguinary 
expedition, that, after the subjugation of the pro- 
vince, he was appointed to the command of it, as 
lieutenant of the Governor of Hispaniola. 

Juan Ponce de Leon had all the impatience of 
quiet life and the passion for exploit of a veteran 
campaigner. He had not been long in the tran- 
quil command of his province of Higuey, before 
he began to cast a wistful eye towards the green 

1 lucas, Garcilaso de la Vega. Hist. Florida, t. iv. c. 3y. 



looS.j JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 3oi 

mountains ol Boriquen, They weredirectly oppo- 
site, and but twelve or fourteen leagues distant, so 
as to be distinctly seen in the transparent atmo- 
sphere of the tropics. The Indians of the two 
islands frequently visited each other, and in this 
wav Juan Ponce received the usual intelligence, 
that the mountains he had eyed so wistfully 
abounded with gold. He readily obtained per- 
mission from Governor Ovando to make an ex- 
pedition to this island, and embarked, in the year 
j 008, in a caravel with a few Spaniards and several 
Indian interpreters and guides. 

Alter an easy voyage, he landed on the woody 
shores of the island, near to the residence of the 
principal cacique, Agueybana. He found the chief- 
tain seated in patriarchal stvle, under the shade of 
his native groves, and surrounded by his family, 
consisting of his mother, step-father, brother and 
sister, who vied with each other in paying homage 
to the strangers. Juan Ponce, in fact, was received 
into the bosom of the family, and the cacique ex- 
changed names with him, winch is the Indian 
pledge of perpetual amity. Juan Ponce also gave 
Christian names to the mother and step-father of 
the cacique, and would fain have baptized them, 
but they declined the ceremony, though they al- 
ways took a pride in the names thus given them. 

In his zeal to gratify his guests, the cacique 
took them to various parts of the island. They 
found the interior to correspond with the external 
appearance. It was wild and mountainous, but 



302 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [ l5u8 - 

magnificently wooded, with deep rich valleys fer- 
tilized by limpid streams. Juan Ponce requested 
the cacique to reveal to him the riches of the 
island. The simple Indian showed him his most 
productive fields of Yuca, the groves laden with 
the most delicious fruit, the sweetest and purest 
fountains, and the coolest runs of water. 

Ponce de Leon heeded hut little these real bless- 
ings," and demanded whether the island produced 
no gold. Upon this the cacique conducted him to 
two rivers, the Manatuabon and the Zebuco, where 
the very pebbles seemed richly veined with gold, 
and large grains shone among the sand through 
the limpid water. Some of the largest of these 
were gathered by the Indians and given to the 
Spaniards. The quantity thus procured confirmed 
the hopes of Juan Ponce; and leaving several of 
his companions in the house of the hospitable 
cacique, he returned to Haytito report the success 
of his expedition. He presented the specimens 
of gold to the Governor Ovando, who assayed 
them in a crucible. The ore was not so fine as 
that of Hispaniola, but, as it was supposed to exist 
in greater quantities, the governor determined on 
the subjugation of the island, and confided the 
enterprise to Juan Ponce de Leon. 



i5og] JOAN PONCE DE LEON. 3o3 



CHAPTER II. 

JUAN PONCE ASPIRES TO THE GOVERNMENT OF 
PORTO RICO. — (l509). 

The natives of Boriquen were more warlike than 
those of Hispaniola; being accustomed to the use 
of arms from the necessity of repelling the frequent 
invasions of the Caribs. It was supposed, therefore, 
that the conquest of their island would be attended 
with some difficulty, and Juan Ponce de Leon 
made another, and as it were, a preparatory visit, 
to make himself acquainted with the country, and 
with the nature and resources of the inhabitants. 
He found the companions whom he had left there on 
his former visit, in good health and spirits, and full 
of gratitude towards the cacique Agueybana, who 
had treated them with undiminished hospitality. 
There appeared to be no need of violence to win 
the island from such simple-hearted and confiding 
people. Juan Ponce flattered himself with the 
hopes of being appointed to its government by 
Ovando, and of bringing it peaceably into subjec- 
tion. After remaining sometime on the island, he 
returned to San Domingo to seek the desired ap- 
pointment, but to his surprise, found the whole 
face of affairs had changed during his absence. 

His patron, the governor Ovando. had been 
recalled to Spain, and Don Diego Columbus, 
son of the renowned discoverer, appointed in his 



3o4 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

place to the command at San Domingo. To add 
to the perplexities of Juan Ponce, a cavalier had 
already arrived from Spain, empowered by the 
king to form a settlement and build a fortress on 
the island of Porto Rico. His name was Chris- 
toval de Sotomayor; he was brother to the Count 
of Camina, and had been secretary to Philip !, 
surnamed the Handsome, king of Castile and fa- 
ther of Charles V. 

Don Diego Columbus was highly displeased 
with the act of the king in granting these powers 
to Sotomayor, as it had been done without his 
knowledge and consent, and of course in disregard 
of his prerogative, as viceroy, to be consulted as 
to all appointments made within his jurisdiction. 
He refused, therefore, to put Sotomayor in pos- 
session of the island. He paid as little respect to 
the claims of Juan Ponce de Leon, whom he re- 
garded with an ungracious eye as a favourite of 
his predecessor Ovando. To settle the matter 
effectually, he exerted what he considered his 
official and hereditary privilege, and chose officers 
to suit himself, appointing one Juan Ceron to the 
government of Porto Rico, and Miguel Diaz to 
serve as his lieutenant. 1 

Juan Ponce de Leon and his rival candidate, 
Christoval de Sotomayor, bore their disappoint- 

' If the reader lias perused the history of Columbus, he may 
remember the romantic adventure of this Miguel Diaz with a fe- 
male cacique, which led 10 the discovery of the gold mines of 
Hayna, and the founding of the city of San Domingo. 



i5o9-] J LAN PONCE DE LEON. 3o5 

men t with a good grace. Though the command 
was denied them, they still hoped to improve their 
fortunes in the island, and accordingly joined the 
crowd of adventurers that accompanied the newly- 
appointed governor. 

New changes soon took place in consequence of 
the jealousies and misunderstandings between king 
Ferdinand and the admiral as to points ol privilege. 
The former still seemed disposed to maintain the 
right of making appointments without consult- 
ing Don Diego, and exerted it in the present in- 
stance; for, when Ovando, on his return to Spain, 
made favourable representation of the merits of 
Juan Ponce de Leon, and set forth his services in 
exploring Porto Rico, the king appointed him go- 
vernor of that island, and signified specifically that 
Don Diego Columbus should not presume to dis- 
place him. 



CHAPTER III. 

JUAN PONCE RULES WITH A STRONG HAND.— 
EXASPERATION OF THE INDIANS. — THEIR EX- 
PERIMENT TO PROVE WHETHER THE SPANIARDS 
WERE MORTAL. 

Juan Ponce de Leon assumed the command of 
the island of Boriquen in the year i.tocj. Reing a 
fiery high-handed old soldier, his first step Avas to 

i3. 



3o6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og- 

quarrel with Juan Ceron and Miguel Diaz, the 
ex-governor and his lieutenant, and to send them 
prisoners to Spain. 1 

He was far more favourable to his late compe- 
titor, Christoval de Sotomayor. Finding him to 
be a cavalier of noble blood and high connexions, 
yet void of pretension, and of most accommodating 
temper, he offered to make him his lieutenant, and 
to give him the post of alcalde mayor, an offer 
which was very thankfully accepted. 

The pride of rank, however, which follows a man 
even into the wilderness, soon interfered with the 
quiet of Sotomayor; he was ridiculed for descend- 
ing so much below his birth and dignity, as to ac- 
cept a subaltern situation to a simple gentleman 
in the island which he had originally aspired to 
govern. He could not withstand these sneers, 
but resigned his appointment, and remained in 
the island as a private individual; establishing 
himself in a village where he had a large reparti- 
miento or allotment of Indians, assigned to him by 
a grant from the king. 

Juan Ponce fixed his seat of government in a 
town called Caparra, which he founded on the 
northern side of the island, about a league from 
the sea, in a neighbourhood supposed to abound 
in gold. It was in front of the port called Rico, 
which subsequently gave its name to the island. 
The road to the town was up a mountain, through 
a dense forest, and so rugged and miry that it was 
1 IIenera, decad. i. 1. vii. c. i3. 



'Sop-] JXJAN PONCE DE LEON. 3o7 

the banc of man and beast. It cost more to con- 
vey provisions and merchandize up this league of 
mountain, than it did to bring them from Spain. 

Juan Ponce, being firmly seated in his govern- 
ment, began to carve and portion out the island, 
to found towns, and to distribute the natives into 
repartimientos, for the purpose of exacting their 
labour. 

The poor Indians soon found the difference be- 
tween the Spaniards as guests, and the Spaniards 
as masters. They were driven to despair by the 
heavy tasks imposed upon them ; for to their free 
spirits and indolent habits, restraint and labour 
were Avorse than death. Many of the most hardy 
and daring proposed a general insurrection, and a 
massacre of their oppressors ; the great mass, 
however, Avere deterred by the belief that the 
Spaniards were supernatural beings and could not 
be killed. 

A shrewd and sceptical cacique, named Brayoan, 
determined to put their immortality to the test. 
Hearing that a young Spaniard, named Salzedo, 
was passing through his lands, he sent a party of 
his subjects to escort him, giving them secret in- 
structions how they were to act. On coming to a 
river they took Salzedo on their shoulders to carry 
him across, but, when in the midst of the stream, 
they let him fall, and, throwing themselves upon 
him, pressed him under water until he wasdrowned. 
Then dragging his body to the shore, and still 
doubting his being dead, they wept and howled 



3o8 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

over him, making a thousand apologies for having 
fallen upon him, and kept him so long beneath the 
surface. 

The cacique Brayoan came to examine the body, 
and pronounced it lifeless; but the Indians, still 
fearing it might possess lurking immortality and 
ultimately revive, kept watch over it for three 
clays, until it showed incontestible signs of putre- 
faction. 

Being now convinced that the strangers were 
mortal men like themselves, they readily entered 
into a general conspiracy to destroy them. 1 



CHAPTER IV. 



CONSPIRACY OF THE CACIQUES FATE OF SOTO- 

MAYOR. 

The prime mover of the conspiracy among the 
natives was Agueybana, brother and successor to 
the hospitable cacique of the same name, who had 
first welcomed the Spaniards to the island, and who 
had fortunately closed his eyes in peace, before 
his native groves were made the scenes of violence 
and oppression. The present cacique had fallen 
within therepartimienloof Don Christoval deSoto- 
mayor, and, though treated by that cavalier wilh 
kindness, could never reconcile his proud spirit to 
the yoke of vassalage. 

1 Herrera, decad. 1 1. viii. c. i3. 



l5og.] J L'AN PONCE BE LEON. 3c>9 

Agueybana held secret councils with bis con- 
federate caciques, in which ihey concerted a plan 
of operations. As the Spaniards were scattered 
about in different places, it was agreed that, at a 
cei tain time, each cacique should despatch those 
within his province. In arranging the massacre of 
those within his own domains, Agueybana assigned 
to one of his inferior caciques the task of surprising 
the village of Sotomayor, giving him 3ooo warriors 
for the purpose. He was to assail the village in 
the dead of the night, to set fire to the houses, and 
to slaughter all the inhabitants. He proudly, how- 
ever, reserved to himself the honour of killing Don 
Christoval with his own hand. 

Don Christoval had an unsuspected friend in the 
very midst of his enemies. Being a cavalier of 
gallant appearance and amiable and courteous 
manners, he had won the affections of an Indian 
princess, the sister of the cacique Agueybana. She 
had overheard enough of the war council of her 
brother and his warriors to learn thatSotomayor was 
in danger. The life of her lover was more precious 
in her eyes than the safety of her brother and her 
tribe; hastening, therefore, to him, she told him all 
that she knew or feared, and warned him to be upon 
his guard. Sotomayor appears to have been of the 
most easy and incautious nature, void ol all evil and 
deceit himself, and slow to suspect any thing of the 
kind in others. He considered the apprehension of 
the princess, as dictated by her fond anxiety, and 
neglected to profit by her warning. 



3lO SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

He received, however, about the same time, in- 
formation from a different quarter, tending: to the 
same point. A Spaniard, versed in the language 
and customs of the natives, had observed a number 
gathering together one evening, painted and de- 
corated, as if for hattle. Suspecting some lurking 
mischief, he stripped and painted himself in their 
manner, and, favoured by the obscurity ofthenight, 
succeeded in mingling among them undiscovered. 
They were assembled round a fire performing one 
of their mystic war-dances, to the channt of an 
Areyto or legendary ballad. The strophes and 
responses treated of revenge and slaughter, and 
repeatedly mentioned the death of Sotomayor. 

The Spaniard withdrew unperceived, and has- 
tened to apprise Don Christoval of his danger. The 
latter still made light of these repeated warnings ; 
revolving them, however, in his mind in the still- 
ness of the night, he began to feel some uneasiness, 
and determined to repair in the morning to Juan 
Ponce de Leon, in his stronghold at Caparra. 
With his fated heedlessness, or temerity, however, 
he applied to Aj.ueybana for Indians to carry his 
baggage, and departed slightly armed, and accom- 
panied by but three Spaniards, although he had to 
pass through close and lonely forests, where he 
would be at the mercy of any treacherous or lurk- 
ing foe. 

The cacique watched the departure of his in- 
tended victim, and set out shortly afterwards, dog- 
ging his steps at a distance through the forest, ac- 



l5o9-] H AN PONCE DE LEON. 3 i I 

conipanied bv a few chosen warriors. Agueybana 

and liis party liact not proceeded far when they met 
a Spaniard named Juan Gonzalez, who spoke the 
Indian language. They immediately assailed him 
and wounded him in several places. He threw 
himself at the feet of the cacique, imploring his life 
in the most abject terms. The chief spared him 
for the moment, being eager to make sure of Don 
Christoval. He overtook that incautious cavalier 
in the very heart of the woodland, and stealing si- 
lently upon him, burst forth suddenly with his 
warriors from the covert of the thickets, giving the 
fatal war-whoop. Before Sotomayor could put 
himself upon his guard, a blow from the war-club 
of the cacique felled him to the earth, when he 
was quickly despatched by repeated blows. The 
four Spaniards who accompanied him shared his 
fate, being assailed, not merely by the warriors who 
had come in pursuit of them, but by their own 
Indian guides. 

When Agueybana had glutted his vengeance on 
this unfortunate cavalier, he returned in quest of 
Juan Gonzalez. The latter, however, had reco- 
vered sufficiently from his wounds to leave the 
place where he had been assailed, and, dreading the 
return of the savages, had climbed into a tree and 
concealed himself among the branches. From 
thence, with trembling anxiety, he watched his 
pursuers as they searched all the surrounding fo- 
restforhim. Fortunately they did not think of look- 
ing up into the trees, but, after beating the bushes 



3l2 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [iSog. 

for sometime, gave up the search. Though he saw 
them depart, vet he did not venture from his conceal- 
ment until the night had closed ; he then descended 
from the tree, and made the hest of his way to the 
residence of certain Spaniards, where his wounds 
were dressed. When this was done, he wai ted not to 
take repose, but repaired by a circuitous route to 
Gaparra, and informed Juan Ponce de Leon of the 
danger he supposed to be still impending over 
Sotomayor, for he knew not that the enemy had 
accomplished his death. Juan Ponce immediately 
sent out forty men to his relief. They came to 
the scene of massacre, where they found the body 
of the unfortunate cavalier, partly buried, but with 
the feet out of the earth. 

In the meantime the savages had accomplished 
the destruction of the village of Sotomayor. They 
approached it unperceived, through thesurround- 
ing forest, and entering it in the dead of the night, 
set fire to the straw-thatched houses, and attacked 
the Spaniards as they endeavoured to escape from 
the flames. 

Several were slain at the onset, but a brave 
Spaniard, named Diego de Salazar, rallied his 
countrymen, inspirited them to beat off the enemy, 
and succeeded in conducting the greater part of 
them, though sorely mangled and harassed, to the 
stronghold of the Governor at Gaparra. Scarcely 
had these fugitives gained the fortress, when 
others came hurrying in from all quarters, bring- 
ing similar tales of conflagration and massacre. 



i5og.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 3 I 3 

For once a general insurrection, so often planned 
in savage life, against the domination of the white 
men, was crowned with success. All the villages 
founded hv the Spaniards had been surprised, 
about a hundred of their inhabitants destroyed, 
and the survivors driven to take refuge in a be- 
leaguered fortress. 



CHAPTER V 



WAR OF JUAN PONCE WITH THE CACIQUE AGUAY- 
BANA. 

Jvjaj* Ponce de Leon might now almost be con- 
sidered a governor v ithout territories and a ge- 
neral without soldiers. His villages were smoking 
ruins, and his whole force did not amount to a 
hundred men, several of whom were disabled by 
their wounds. He had an able and implacable 
foe in Aguaybana, who took the lead of all the 
other caciques, and even sent envoys to the Caribs 
of the neighbouring islands, entreating them to 
forget all ancient animosities and to make com- 
mon cause against these strangers— the deadly 
enemies of the whole Indian race. In the mean- 
time the whole of this wild island was in rebellion, 
and the forests around the fortress of Caparra 
rang with the whoops and yells of the savages, the 
blasts of their war-conchs, and the stormy roaring 
of their drums. 



3 1 4 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5o9- 

Juan Ponce was a staunch and wary old sol- 
dier, and not easily daunted. He remained 
grimly ensconced within his fortress, from whence 
he despatched messengers in all haste to Hispa- 
niola, imploring immediate assistance. In the 
meantime, he tasked his wits to divert the enemy 
and to keep them at bay. He divided his little 
force into three bodies of about thirty men each, 
under the command of Diego Salazar, Miguel de 
Toro, and Luis de Anasco, and sent them out al- 
ternately to make sudden surprises and assaults, 
to form ambuscades, and to practise the other stra- 
tagems of partisan warfare, which he had learnt 
in early life, in his campaigns against the Moors of 
Granada. 

One of his most efficient warriors was a dog 
named Berezillo, renowned for courage, strength 
and sagacity. It is said that he could distinguish 
those of the Indians who were allies, from those 
who were enemies of the Spaniards. To the former 
he was docile and friendly, to the latter fierce and 
implacable. He was the terror of the natives, who 
were unaccustomed to powerful and ferocious ani- 
mals, and did more service in this wild warfare, 
than could have been rendered by several soldiers. 
His prowess was so highly appreciated that his 
master received for him the pay, allowance and 
share <;f booty, assigned to a cross-bowman, which 
was the highest stipend given. 1 

1 This famous dog was killed some years afterwards by a poi- 
soned arrow, as he was swimming in the sea in pursuit of a Carib 



i509-] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 3 I 5 

At length the stout old cavalier Juan Ponce was 
reinforced in his strong hold, by troops from His- 
paniola, whereupon he sallied forth boldly to take 
revenge upon those who had thus held him in a 
kind of durance. His foe Aguaybanawas at that 
time encamped in his own territories with more 
than five thousand warriors, but in a negligent 
unwatchful state, for he knew nothing of the 
reinforcements of the Spaniards, and supposed 
Juan Ponce shut up with his handful of men in 
Caparra. The old soldier, therefore, took him 
completely by surprise, and routed him with great 
slaughter. Indeed it is said the Indians were 
struck with a kind of panic when they saw the 
Spaniards as numerous as ever, notwithstanding 
the number they had massacred. Their belief in 
their immortality revived, they fancied that those 
whom they had slain had returned to life, and 
they despaired of victory over beings who could 
thus arise with renovated vigour from the grave. 
Various petty actions and skirmishes afterwards 
took place, in which the Indians were defeated. 
Aguaybana, however, disdained this petty warfare, 
and stirred up his countrymen to assemble their 
forces, and by one grand assault to decide the fate 
of themselves and their island. Juan Ponce re- 



ludian. He left, however, a numerous progeny and a great name 
behind him; and his merits and exploits were long a favourite 
theme among the Spanish colonists. He -was father to the re- 
nowned Leoncico, the faithful dog of Vasco Nunez, which resem- 
bled him in looks and equalled him in prowess. 



3 1 6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5og. 

ceived secret tidings of their intent, and of the 
place where tbey were assembling. He had at 
that time barely eighty men at his disposal, but 
then they were cased in steel and proof against 
the weapons of the savages. Without stopping to 
reflect, the high-mettled old cavalier put himself at 
their head, and led them through the forest in 
quest of the foe. 

It was nearly sunset when he came in sight of 
the Indian camp, and the multitude of warriors 
assembled there made him pause, and almost re- 
pent of his temerity. He was as shrewd, however, 
as he was hardy and resolute. Ordering some of 
his men in the advance to skirmish with the enemy, 
he hastily threw up a slight fortification with the 
assistance of the rest. AVhen it was finished he 
withdrew his forces into it, and ordered them to 
keep merely on the defensive. The Indians made 
repeated attacks, but were as often repulsed with 
loss. Some of the Spaniards, impatient of this 
covert warfare, would sally forth in open field 
with pike and cross-bow, but were called back 
within the fortification by their wary com- 
mander. 

The cacique Aguaybana was enraged at finding 
his host of warriors thus baffled and kept at bay by 
a mere handful of Spaniards. He beheld the night 
closing in, and feared that in the darkness the 
enemy would escape. Summoning his choicest 
warriors round him, therefore, he led the way in 
a general assault, when, as he approached the 



iSoj).] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 3 1 7 

fortress, he received a mortal wound from an ar- 
quebuss, and fell dead upon the spot. 

The Spaniards were not aware at first of the im- 
portance of the chief whom they had slain. They 
soon surmised it, however, from the confusion that 
ensued among the enemy, who bore off the body 
with great lamentations, and made no further at- 
tack. 

The wary Juan Ponce took advantage of the evi- 
dent distress of the foe, to draw off his small forces 
in the night, happy to get out of the terrible jeo- 
pardy into which a rash confidence had betrayed 
him. Some of his fiery-spirited officers would have 
kept the field in spite of the overwhelming force 
of the enemy. « No, no,» said the shrewd veteran ; 
(i it is better to protract the war than to risk all 
upon a single battle.') 

While Juan Ponce de Leon was fighting hard to 
maintain his sway over the island, his transient 
dignity was overturned by another power against 
which the prowess of the old soldier was of no 
avail. King Ferdinand had repented of the step 
he had ill advisedly taken, in superseding the go- 
vernor and lieutenant governor appointed by Don 
Diego Columbus. lie became convinced, though 
rather tardily, that it was an infringement of the 
rights of the admiral, and that policy, as well as 
justice, required him to retract it. When Juan 
Ceron and Miguel Diaz, therefore, came prisoners 
to Spain, he received them graciously, conferred 
many favours on them to atone for their rough 



3l8 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [iSio. 

ejectment from office, and finally, after some time, 
sent them back, empowered to resume the com- 
mand of the island. They were ordered, however, 
on no account to manifest rancour or ill-will 
against Juan Ponce de Leon, or to interfere with 
any property he might hold, either in houses, 
lands, or Indians ; but on the contrary, to cultivate 
the most friendly understanding with him. The 
king also wrote to the hardy veteran explaining to 
him, that this restitution of Ceron and Diaz had 
been determined upon in council, as a mere act 
of justice due to them, but was not intended as a 
censure upon his conduct, and that means should 
be sought to indemnify him for the loss of his 
command. 

By the time the governor and his lieutenant 
reached the island, Juan Ponce had completed 
its subjugation. The death of the island cham- 
pion, the brave Aguaybana, had in fact been a 
deathblow to the natives, and shows how much, in 
savage warfare, depends upon a single chieftain. 
They never made head of war afterwards ; but, 
dispersing among their forests and mountains, 
fell gradually under the power of the Spaniards. 
Their subsequent fate was like that of their neigh- 
bours of Hayti. They were employed in the la- 
bour of the mines and in other rude toils, so re- 
pugnant to their nature that they sank beneath 
them, and, in a little while, almost all the abori- 
ginals disappeared from the island. 



JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 3 I 9 



CHAPTER VI. 

.HAN PONCE DE LEON HEARS OF A WONDERFUL 
COUNTRY AND MIRACULOUS FOUNTAIN. 

Juan Ponce de Leon resigned the command of 
Porto Rico with tolerable grace. The loss of one 
wild island and wild government was of little mo- 
in cm. when there was a new world to be shared 
onl, where a bold soldier like himself, with sword 
and buckler, might readily carve out new for- 
tunes for himself. Beside, he had now amassed 
wealth to assist him in his plans, and, like many 
of the early discoverers, his brain was teeming 
with the most romantic enterprises. He had con- 
ceived the idea that there was yet a third world 
to be discovered, and he hoped to be the first to 
reach its shores, and thus to secure a renown equal 
to that of Columbus. 

"While cogitating these things, and considering 
which way he should strike forth in the unex- 
plored regions around him, he met with some old 
Indians, who gave him tidings of a country which 
promised, not merely to satisfy the cravings of 
his ambition, but to realize the fondest dreams of 
the poets. They assured him that, far to the 
north, there existed a land abounding in gold and 
in all manner of delights ; but, above all, possess- 
ing a river of such wonderful virtue, that whoever 
bathed in it would be rest -red to youth! They 



320 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5io, 

added, that in times past, before the arrival of the 
Spaniards, a large party of the natives of Cuba 
had departed northward in search of this happy 
land and this river of life, and, having never re- 
turned, it was concluded that they were flourish- 
ing in renovated youth, detained by the pleasures 
of that enchanting country. 

Here was the dream of the alchymist realised ! 
one had but to find this gifted land and revel in 
the enjoyment of boundless riches and perennial 
youth ! nay, some of the ancient Indians declared 
that it was not necessary to go so far in quest of 
these rejuvenating waters, for that, in a certain 
island of the Bahama group, called Bimini, which 
lay far out in the ocean, there was a fountain 
possessing the same marvellous and inestimable 
qualities. 

Juan Ponce de Leon listened to these tales with 
fond credulity. He was advancing in life, and 
the ordinary term of existence seemed insufficient 
for his mighty plans. Could he but plunge into 
this marvellous fountain or gifted river, and come 
out with his battered war-worn body restored to 
the strength and freshness and suppleness of 
youth, and his head still retaining the wisdom and 
knowledge of age, what enterprises might he not 
accomplish in the additional course of vigorous 
years insured to him ! 

It may seem incredible, at the present day, that 
a man of years and experience could yield any 
faith to a story which resembles the wild fiction 



i5i2.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 321 

of an Arabain tale; but the wonders and novelties 
breaking upon the world in that aye of discovery 
almost realised the illusions of fable, and the ima- 
ginations of the Spanish voyagers had become so 
heated, that they were capable of any stretch of 
credulity. 

So fully persuaded was the worthy old cavalier 
of the existence of the region described to him, 
that he fitted out three ships at his own expense to 
prosecute the discovery, nor had he any difficulty 
in finding adventurers in abundance ready to cruise 
with him in quest of this fairy-land. 1 

1 It was not the credulous minds of voyagers and adventurers 
alone that were heated hy these Indian traditions and romantic 
fables. Men of learning and eminence were likewise beguiled by 
them: witness the following extract from the second decad of 
Peter Martyr, addressed to Leo X, then bishop of Rome : — 

k Among the islands on the north side of Hispaniola th^re is one 
about 325 leagues distant, as they say which have searched the 
satin-, in the which is a continual spring of running water, of such 
marvellous virtue that the water thereof being drunk, perhaps 
with some diet, maketh olde men young again. And here I must 
make protestation to your holiness not to think this to be said 
lightly or rashly, lor they have so spread this rumour for a truth 
throughout ail (lie court, t'lat not only all the people, but also 
many of them whom wisdom or fortune haih divided from the 
common sort, think it to be true ; but, if yon will ask my opinion 
herein, I will answer, that I will not attribute so great power 
to nature, hut that God hath no lesse reserved this prerogative to 
himself than to search the hearts of men,- etc. — P. Martyr, d. 2. 
c. x. Lok's translation. 



322 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CRUISE OF JUAN PONCE DE LEON IN SEARCH OF 
THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.— ( I 5 I 2.) 

It was on the third of March, i5ia, that Juan 
Ponce sailed with his three ships from the Port of 
St Germain in the island of Porto Pvico. He kept 
for some distance along the coast of Hispaniola, 
and then, stretching away to the northward, made 
for the Bahama Islands, and soon fell in with the 
first of the group. He was favoured with pro- 
pitious weather and tranquil seas, and glided 
smoothly with wind and current along that ver- 
dant archipelago, visiting one island after another, 
until, on the fourteenth of the month, he arrived 
at Guanahani, or St Salvador's, where Christopher 
Columhus had first put his foot on the shores of 
the New World. His inquiries for the island of 
Bimini were all in vain, and as to the fountain of 
youth, he may have drunk of every fountain, and 
river, and lake, in the archipelago, even to the 
salt-pools of Turk's Island, without being a whit 
the younger. 

Still he was not discouraged ; but, having re- 
paired his ships, lie again put to sea and shaped 
his course to the north-west. On Sunday, the 
:17th of March, he came in sight of what he sup- 
posed to be an island, but was prevented from 
landing by adverse weather. He continued ho- 



l5ia.] JUAN PONCE DE LEO*. 323 

vering about it for several days, buffeted by the 
elements, until, in the night of thesecond of April, 
he succeeded in coming to anchor under the land, 
in thirty degrees eight minutes of latitude. The 
whole country was in the fresh bloom of spring'; 
the trees were gay with blossoms, and the fields 
covered with flowers ; from which circumstance, 
as well as from having discovered it on Palm 
Sunday (Pascua Florida), he gave it the name of 
Florida, which it retains to the present day. The 
Indian name of the country was Cautio. 1 

Juan Ponce landed, and took possession of the 
country in the name of the Castilian Sovereigns. 
He afterwards continued for several weeks rang- 
ing the coasts of this flowery land, and struggling 
against the gulf-stream and the various currents 
which sweep it. He doubled Cape Canaveral, 
and reconnoitered the southern and eastern shores 
without suspecting that this was a part of Terra 
Firma. In all his attempts to explore the country, 
he met with resolute and implacable hostility on 
the part of the natives, who appeared to be a 
fierce and warlike race. He was disappointed also 
in his hopes of finding gold, nor did any of the 
rivers or fountains, which he examined, possess the 
rejuvenating virtue. Convinced, therefore, that 
this was not the promised land of Indian tradition, 
he turned his prow homeward on the fourteenth 
of June, with the intention, in the way, of making 
one more attempt to find the island of Rimini. 

' Herrera,Hist. lrul. d. i. 1. ix.c. 10. 



324 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5i2. 

In the outset of his return he discovered a 
group of islets abounding with sea-fowl and ma- 
rine animals. On one of them, his sailors, in the 
course of a single night, caught one hundred and 
seventy turtles, and might have taken many more,, 
had they been so inclined. They likewise took 
fourteen sea-wolves, and killed a vast quantity of 
pelicans and other birds. To this group Juan 
Ponce gave the name of the Tortugas, or Turtles, 
which they si ill retain. 

Proceeding in his cruise, he touched at another 
group of islets near the Lucayos, to which he gave 
the name of La Vieja, or the Old Woman group, 
because he found no inhabitant there but one old 
Indian woman. 1 This ancient sybil he took on 
board his ship to give him information about the 
labyrinth of islands into which he was entering, 
and perhaps he could not have had a more suit- 
able guide in the eccentric quest he was making. 
Notwithstanding her pilotage, however, he was 
exceedingly batfled and perplexed in his return 
voyage among the Bahama Islands, for he was 
forcing his way as it were against the course of 
nature, and encountering the currents which sweep 
westward along these islands, and the trade-wind 
which accompanies them. For a long time he 
struggled with all kinds of difficulties and clangers ; 
and was obliged to remain upwards of a month in 
one of the islands, to repair the damages which his 
ship had suffered in a storm. 

' Herrera, d. i. 1. is. 



i5i2.] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 325 

Disheartened at length hy the perils and trials 
with which nature seemed to have heset the ap- 
proach to Bimini, as to some fairy island in ro- 
mance, he gave up the quest in person, and sent 
in his place a trusty captain, Juan Perez de Or- 
tubia, who departed in one of the other ships, 
guided by the experienced old woman of the isles, 
and by another Indian. As to Juan Ponce, he 
made the best of his way back to Porto Rico, 
where he arrived infinitely poorer in purse and 
wrinkled in brow, by this cruise after inexhaustible 
riches and perpetual youth. 

He had not been long in port when his trusty 
envoy, Juan Perez, likewise arrived. Guided by 
the sage old woman, he had succeeded in finding 
the long-sought-for Bimini. He described it as 
being large, verdant, and covered with beautiful 
groves. There were crystal springs and limpid 
streams in abundance, which kept the island in 
perpetual verdure, but none that could restore to 
an old man the vernal greenness of his youth. 

Thus ended the romantic expedition of Juan 
Ponce de Leon. Like many other pursuits of a 
chimera, it terminated in the acquisition of a sub- 
stantial good. Though he had failed in finding 
the fairy fountain of youth, he had discovered in 
place of it the important country of Florida. 1 

1 The belief of the existence, in Florida, of a river like that 
sought by Juan Ponce, was long prevalent among the Indians of 
Cuba, and the caciques were anxious to discover it. That a party 
of the natives of Cuba once went in search of it, and remained 



3'l6 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5 i4- 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EXPEDITION OF JUAN PONCE AGAINST THE CARIBS 
HIS DEATH. — ( I 5 1 4-) 

Juan Ponce de Leon now repaired to Spain, to 
make a report of his voyage to King- Ferdinand. 
The hardy old cavalier experienced much raillery 
from the witlings of the court, on account of his 
visionary voyage, though many wise men had been 
as credulous as himself at the outset. The king, 
however, received him with great favour, and con- 
ferred on him the title of Adelantado of Bimini 
and Florida, which last was as yet considered an 
island. Permission was also granted him to recruit 
men either in Spain or in the colonies for a settle- 
ment in Florida; but he deferred entering on his 
command for the present, being probably discou- 
raged and impoverished by the losses in his last 
expedition, or finding a difficulty in enlisting ad- 
venturers. At length another enterprise presented 
itself. The Caribs had by this time become a 
terror to the Spanish inhabitants of many of the 

there, appears to be a fact, as their descendants were afterwards 
to be traced among the people of Florida. Las Casas says, that, 
even in his days, many persisted in seeking this mystery, and some 
thought that the river was no other than that called the Jor- 
dan, at the point of St Helena ; without considering that the name 
was given to it by the Spaniards in the year i520, when they dis- 
covered the land of Chicora. 



i5i5.]j JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 32y 

islands, making descents upon die coasts and car- 
rying off captives, who it Avas supposed were 
doomed to be devoured by these canniba s. So 
frequent were their invasions of the island of Porto 
Rico, that it was feared they would ultimately 
oblige the Spaniards to abandon it. 

At length King Ferdinand, in i5i4, ordered that 
three ships, well armed and manned, should be 
fitted out in Seville, destined to scour the islands 
of the Caribs, and to free the seas from those can- 
nibal marauders. The command of the Armada 
was given to Juan Ponce de Leon, from his know- 
ledge in Indian warfare, and his varied and rough 
experience which had mingled in him the soldier 
with the sailor. He was instructed in the first 
place to assail the Caribs of those islands most 
contiguous and dangerous to Porto Piico, and then 
to make war on those of the coast of Terra Firma, 
in the neighbourhood of Carthagena. He was 
afterwards to take the captaincy of Porto Pico, 
and to attend to the repartimientos or distributions 
of the Indians, in conjunction with a person to be 
appointed by Diego Columbus. 

The enterprise suited the soldier-like spirit of 
Juan Ponce de Leon, and the gallant old cavalier 
set sail full of confidence, in January, i5i5, and 
steered direct for the Caribbe; s, with a determi- 
nation to give a wholesome castigationtothe whole 
savage archipelago. Arriving at the island of 
Guadaloupe, he cast anchor, and sent men on 
shore for wood and water, and women to wash the 



328 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i520. 

clothing of the crews, with a party of soldiers to 
mount guard. 

Juan Ponce had not been as wary as usual, or 
he had to deal with savages unusually adroit in 
warfare. While the people were scattered care- 
lessly on shore, the Caribs rushed forth from an 
ambuscade, killed the greater part of the men, and 
carried off the women to the mountains. 

This blow at the very outset of his vaunted ex- 
pedition sank deep into the heart of Juan Ponce, 
and put an end to all his military excitement. 
Humbled and mortified, he set sail for the island 
of Porto Rico, where he relinquished all further 
prosecution of the enterprise, under pretext of 
ill health, and gave the command of the squadron 
to a captain named Zmliga; but it is surmised 
that his malady was not so much of the flesh as of 
the spirit. He remained in Porto Rico as go- 
vernor; but, having grown testy and irritable 
through vexations and disappointments, he gave 
great offence, and caused much contention on the 
island by positive and strong-handed measures, in 
respect to the distributions of the Indians. 

He continued for several years in that island, in 
a state of growling repose, until theHarilliant ex- 
ploits of Hernando Cortez, which threatened to 
eclipse the achievements of all the veteran dis- 
coverers, roused his dormant spirit. 

Jealous of being cast in the shade in his old 
days, he determined to sally forth on one more 
expedition. He had heard that Florida which he 



i52i.] J CAN PONCE DE LEON. 329 

had discovered, and which he had hitherto con- 
sidered a mere island, was part of Terra Firrna, 
possessing vast and unknown regions in its hosom. 
If so, a grand held of enterprise lay before him, 
wherein he might make discoveries and conquests 
to rival, if not surpass, the far-famed conquest of 
Mexico. 

Accordingly in the year i52i, he fitted out two 
ships at the island of Porto Rico, and embarked 
almost the whole of his property in the under- 
taking. His voyage was toilsome and tempestuous, 
but at length he arrived at the wished for land. 
He made a descent upon the coast with a great 
part of his men, but the Indians sallied forth with 
unusual valour to defend their shores. A bloody 
battle ensued, several of the Spaniards were slain, 
and Juan Ponce was wounded by an arrow, in the 
thigh. He was borne on board his ship, and, 
finding himself disabled for further action, set sail 
for Cuba, where he arrived ill in body and dejected 
in heart. 

He was of an age when there is no longer prompt 
and healthful reaction either mental or corporeal. 
The irritations of humiliated pride and disap- 
pointed hope, exasperated the fever of his wound, 
and he died soon after his arrival at the island. 
"Thus fate,» says one of the quaint old Spanish 
Avriters, « delights to reverse the schemes of man. 
The discovery that Juan Ponce flattered himself 
was to lead to a means of perpetuating his life, had 
the ultimate effect of hastening his death.)) 



330 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. [i5al . 

It may be said, however, that he has at least 
attained the shadow of his desire, since, though 
disappointed in extending the natural term of his 
existence, his discovery has ensured a lasting dura- 
tion to his name. 

The following epitaph was inscribed upon his 
tomb, which does justice to the warrior qualities 
of the stout old cavalier. 

Mole sub hac fortis requiescunt ossa Leonis, 
Qui vicit factis nomina magna suis. 

It has thus been paraphrased in Spanish by the 
Licentiate Juan de Gastellanos. 

Aqueste lugar estreeho 
Es sepulchro del varon, 
Que en el nombre fue Leon, 
Y mucho mas en el heclio. 

« In this sepulchre rest the bones of a man, who 
was a lion by name, and still more by nature." 



APPENDIX. 



A VISIT TO PALOS. 

[The following narrative was actually commenced, by the 
author of this work, as a letter to a friend, but unexpect- 
edly swelled to its present size. He has been induced to 
insert it here from the idea that many will feel the same 
curiosity to know something of the present state of Palos 
and its inhabitants that led him to make the journey.] 



Seville, 1828. 
Since I last wrote to you I have made, what I may- 
term, an American Pilgrimage, to visit the little 
port of Palos in Andalusia, where Columbus fitted 
out his ships, and whence he sailed for the dis- 
covery of the New World. Need I tell you how 
deeply interesting and gratifying- it has been to 
me? I had long meditated this excursion, as a 
kind of pious, and, if I may so say, filial duty of 
an American : and my intention was quickened 
when I learnt that many of the edifices, mentioned 
in the History of Columbus, still remained in 
nearly the same state in which they existed at the 
time of his sojourn at Palos, and that the descend- 
ants of the intrepid Pinzons, who aided him with 
ships and money, and sailed with him in the great 
voyage of discovery, still flourished in the neigh- 
bourhood. 



332 APPENDIX. [1828. 

The very evening before my departure from 
Seville on the excursion, I heard that there was a 
young gentleman of the Pinzon family studying 
law in the city. I got introduced to him, and 
found him of most prepossessing appearance and 
manners. He gave me a letter of introduction to 
his father, Don Juan Fernandez Pinzon, resident 
of Moguer, and the present head of the family. 

As it Avas in the middle of August, and the wea- 
ther intensely hot, I hired a calesa for the journey. 
This is a two-wheeled carriage, resembling a ca- 
briolet, but of the most primitive and rude con- 
struction ; the harness is profusely ornamented 
with brass, and the horse's head decorated with 
tufts and tassels and dangling bobs of scarlet and 
yellow worsted. I had, for calasero, a tall, long- 
legged Andalusian, in short jacket, little round- 
crowned hat, breeches decorated with buttons 
from the hip to the knees, and a pair of russet 
leather bottinas or spatterdashes. He was an 
active fellow, though uncommonly taciturn for 
an Andalusian, and strode along beside his horse, 
rousing him occasionally to greater speed by a loud 
malediction or a hearty thwack of his cudgel. 

In this style, I set off late in the day to avoid the 
noontide heat, and after ascending the lofty range 
of hills that borders the great valley of the Gua- 
dalquiver, and having a rough ride among their 
heights, I descended about twilight into one of 
those vast, silent, melancholy plains, frequent in 
Spain, where I beheld no other signs of life than 



A VISIT TO PALOS. 333 

a roaming flock of bustards, and a distant herd of 
caitle, guarded by a solitary herdsman, who, with 

a long pike planted in the earth, stood motionless 
in the midst of the dreary landscape, resembling 
an Arab of the desert. The night had somewhat 
advanced when we stopped to repose for a few 
hours at a solitary venta or inn, if it might so be 
called, being nothing more than a vast low-roofed 
stable, divided into several compartments for the 
reception of the troops of mules and arrieros (or 
carriers) who carry on the internal trade of Spain. 
Accommodation for the traveller there w r as none — 
not even for a traveller so easily accommodated as 
myself. The landlord had no food to give me, 
and as to a bed, he had none but a horse-cloth, on 
which his only child, a boy of eight years old, lay 
naked on the earthen floor. Indeed the heat of 
the weather and the fumes from the stables made 
the interior of the hovel insupportable, so I was 
fain to bivouac on my cloak on the pavement at 
the door of the venta, where, on waking after two 
or three hours of sound sleep, I found a contra- 
bandista (or smuggler) snoring beside me, with his 
blunderbuss on his arm. 

I resumed my journey before break of day, and 
had made several leagues by ten o'clock, when we 
stopped to breakfast, and to pass the sultry hours 
of midday in a large village, from whence we de- 
parted about four o'clock, and, after passing 
through the same kind of solitary country, arrived 
just after sunset at Moguer. This little city (for 



334 APPENDIX. [1828. 

at present it is a city) is situated about a league 
from Palos, of which place it has gradually 
absorbed all the respectable inhabitants, and, 
among the number, the whole family of the Pin- 
zons. 

So remote is this little place from the stir and 
bustle of travel, and so destitute of the show 
and vainglory of this world, that my calesa, as it 
rattled and jingled along the narrow and ill-paved 
streets, caused a great sensation ; the children 
shouted and scampered along by its side, admiring 
its splendid trappings of brass and worsted, and 
gazing with reverence at the important stranger 
who came in so gorgeous an equipage. 

I drove up to the the principal posada, the land- 
lord of which was at the door. He was one of the 
very civilest men in the world, and disposed to do 
every thing in his power to make me comfortable ; 
there was only one difficulty, he had neither bed 
nor bed-room in his house. In fact it was a mere 
venta for muleteers, who are accustomed to sleep 
on the ground with their mule-cloths for beds and 
pack-saddles for pillows. It was a hard case, but 
there was no better posada in the place. Few peo- 
ple travel for pleasure or curiosity in these out-of- 
the-way parts of Spain, and those of any note are 
generally received into private houses. I had tra- 
velled sufficiently in Spain to find out that a bed, 
after all, is not an article of indispensable necessity, 
and was about to bespeak some quiet corner where 
I might spread my cloak, when fortunately the 
landlord's wife came forth. She could not have a 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 335 

more obliging disposition than her husband, but 
then — God bless the women ! — they always know 
bow td carry their good wishes into effect. In a 
little while a small room, about ten feet square, 
that had formed a thoroughfare between the sta- 
bles and a kind of shop or bar-room, was cleared 
of a variety of lumber, and I was assured that a 
bed should be put up there for me. From the 
consultations I saw my bostess holding with some 
of her neighbour gossips, I fancied the bed was to 
be a kind of piece-meal contribution among them 
for the credit of the house. 

As soon asl could change my dress, I commenced 
the historical researches which were the object of 
my journey, and inquired for the abode of Don 
Juan Fernandez Pinzon. My obliging landlord 
himself volunteered to conduct me thither, and I 
set off full of animation at the thoughts of meet- 
ing with the lineal representative of one of the co- 
adjutors of Columbus. 

A short walk brought us to the house, which 
was most respectable in its appearance, indicating 
easy, if not affluent, circumstances. The door, as is 
customary in Spanish villages, during summer, 
stood wide open. We entered with the usual sa- 
lutation or rather summons, «Ave Maria!" A 
trim Andalusian handmaid answered to the call, 
and, on our inquiring for the master of the house, 
led the way across a little patio or court, in the 
centre of the edifice, cooled by a fountain sur- 
rounded by shrubs and flowers, to a back-court or 
terrace, likewise set out with flowers, where Don 



336 APPENDIX. [1828. 

Juan Fernandez was seated with his family, en- 
joying the serene evening in the open air. 

I was much pleased with his appearance. He 
was a venerahle old gentleman, tall, and somewhat 
thin, with fair complexion and grey hair. He 
received me with great urbanity, and on reading 
the letter from his son, appeared struck with sur- 
prise to find I had come quite to Moguer, merely 
to visit the scene of the embarkation of Colum- 
bus; and still more so on my telling him, that 
one of my leading objects of curiosity was his 
own family connexion; for it would seem that 
the worthy cavalier had troubled his head but lit- 
tle about the enterprises of his ancestors. 

I now took my seat in the domestic circle, and 
soon felt myself quite at home, for there is gene- 
rally a frankness in the hospitality of Spaniards, 
that soon puts a stranger at his ease beneath their 
roof. The wife of Don Juan Fernandez was ex- 
tremely amiable and affable, possessing much of 
that natural aptness for which the Spanish women 
are remarkable. In the course of conversation 
with them I learnt, that Don Juan Fernandez, 
tfho is seventy-two years of age, is the eldest of 
five brothers, all of whom are married, have 
numerous offspring, and live in Moguer and its 
vicinity, in nearly the same condition and rank 
of life as at the time of the discovery. This 
agreed with what I had previously heard, re- 
specting the families of the discoverers. Of Co- 
lumbus no lineal and direct descendant exists; 



1828.] A VISIT TO palos. 33y 

Ins was an exotic stork tliat never took Jeep and 
lasting root in the country ; but the rare or' the 
Pinzons continues to thrive and multiply in its 
native soil. 

While I was yet conversing-, a gentleman enter- 
ed, who was introduced to me as Don Luis Fer- 
nandez Pinzon, the youngest of the brothers. He 
appeared to be between fifty and sixty years of 
age, somewhat robust, with fair complexion and 
grev hair, and a frank and manly deportment. 
He is the only one of the present generation that 
has followed the ancient profession of the family; 
having served with great applause as an officer of 
the royal navy, from which he retired, on his 
marriage, about twenty-two years since. He is 
the one, also, who takes the greatest interest and 
pride in the historical honours of his house, care- 
fully preserving all the legends and documents of 
the achievements and distinctions of his family, a 
manuscript volume of which he lent tome for my 
inspection. 

Don Juan now expressed a wish that, during 
my residence in Moguer, I would make his house 
my home. I endeavoured to excuse myself, al- 
leging, that the good people at the posada had 
been at such extraordinary trouble in preparing 
quarters for me, that I did not like to disappoint 
them. The worthy old gentleman undertook to 
arrange all this, and, while supper was preparing, 
we walked together to the posada. I found that 
my obliging host and hostess had indeed exerted 

i5 



338 APPENDIX. [1828. 

themselves to an uncommon degree. An old 
ricketty table had been spread out in a corner of 
the little room as a bedstead, on top of which was 
propped up a grand cama cle luxo, or state bed, 
which appeared to be the admiration of the house. 
I could not, for the soul of me, appear to under- 
value what the poor people had prepared with 
such hearty good will, and considered such a tri- 
umph of art and luxury ; so I again entreated 
Don Juan to dispense with my sleeping at his 
house, promising most faithfully to make my 
meals there whilst I should stay at Moguer, and 
as the old gentleman understood my motives for 
declining his invitation, and felt a good-humoured 
sympathy in them, we readily arranged the matter. 
I returned therefore with Don Juan to his house 
and supped with bis family. During the repast a 
plan was agreed upon for my visit to Palos, and to 
the convent La Rabid a, in which Don Juan volun- 
teered to accompany me and be my guide, and the 
following day was allotted to the expedition. We 
were to breakfast at a hacienda, or country-seat, 
which he possessed in the vicinity of Palos, in the 
midst of his vineyards, and were to dine there on 
our return from the convent. These arrangements 
being made, we parted for the night; I returned 
to the posada highly gratified with my visit, and 
slept soundly in the extraordinary bed which, I 
may almost say, had been invented for my accom- 
modation. 

On the following morning, bright and early, 
Don Juan Fernandez and myself set off in the 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 339 

calesa for Palos. I felt apprehensive at first, that 
the kind-hearted old gentleman, in his anxiety to 
oblige, had left his bed at too early an hour, and 
was exposing himself to fatigues un suited to his 
age. He laughed at the idea, and assured me 
that he was an early riser, and accustomed to all 
kinds of exercise on horse and foot, being a keen 
sportsman, and frequently passing days together 
among the mountains on shooting expeditions, 
taking with him servants, horses, and provisions, 
and living in a tent. He appeared, in fact, to be 
of an active habit, and to possess a youthful vi- 
vacity of spirit. His cheerful disposition rendered 
our morning drive extremely agreeable; his ur- 
banity was shown to every one whom we met on 
the road; even the common peasant Avas saluted 
by him with t lie appellation of caballero, a mark 
of respect ever gratifying to the poor but proud 
Spaniard, when yielded by a superior. 

As the tide was out, we drove along the flat 
grounds bordering the Tinto. The river was on 
our right, while on our left was a range of hills, 
jutting out into promontories, one beyond the 
other, and covered with vineyards and fig-trees. 
The weather was serene, the air soft and balmy, 
and the landscape of that gentle kind calculated 
to put one in a quiet and happy humour. We 
passed close by the skirts of Palos, and drove to 
the hacienda, which is situated at some little dis- 
tance from the village, between it and the river. 
The house is a low stone building, well white- 
washed, and of great length • one end being fitted 



340 APPENDIX. [1828. 

up as a summer residence, with saloons, bed- 
rooms, and a domestic chapel; and the other as a 
bodega or magazine for the reception of the wine 
produced on the estate. 

The house stands on a hill, amidst vineyards, 
which are supposed to cover a part of the site of 
the ancient town of Palos, now shrunk to a mi- 
serable village. Beyond these vineyards, on the 
crest of a distant hill, are seen the white walls of 
the convent of La Rabid a rising above a dark 
wood of pine-trees. 

Below the hacienda flows the river Tinto, on 
which Columbus embarked. It is divided by a 
low tongue of land, or rather the sand bar of 
Saltes, from the river Odiel, with which it soon 
mingles its waters, and flows on to the ocean. 
Beside this sand bar, where the channel of the 
river runs deep, the squadron of Columbus was 
anchored, and from hence he made sail on the 
morning of his departure. 

The soft breeze that was blowing scarcely 
ruffled the surface of this beautiful river; two or 
three picturesque barks, called mysticks, with 
long latine sails, were gliding down it. A little 
aid of the imagination might suffice to picture 
them as the light caravels of Columbus, sallying 
forth on their eventful expedition, while the dis- 
tant bells of the town of Huelva, which were ring- 
ing melodiously, might be supposed as cheering 
the voyagers with a farewell peal. 

I cannot express to you what were my feelings 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 34 1 

on treacling the shore which had once been animated 
by the bustle of departure, and whose sands had 
been printed bv the last footstep of Columbus. The 
solemn and sublime nature of the event that had fol- 
lowed, together with the fate and fortunes of those 
concerned in it, fdled the mind with vague yet 
melancholy ideas. It was like viewing" the silent 
and empty stage of some great drama when all the 
actors had departed. The very aspect of the 
landscape, so tranquilly beautiful, had an effect 
upon me; and as I paced the deserted shore by 
the side of a descendant of one of the discoverers, 
I felt my heart swelling with emotions and my 
eyes filling with tears. 

What surprised me Avas, to find no semblance of 
a sea-port ; there was neither wharf nor landing- 
place — nothing but a naked river bank, with the 
hulk of a ferry-boat, which I was told carried 
passengers to Huelva, lying high and dry on the 
sands, deserted by the tide. Palos, though it has 
doubtless dwindled away from its former size, can 
never have been important as to extent and popu- 
lation. Tf it possessed warehouses on the beach, 
they have disappeared. It is at present a mere 
village of the poorest kind, and lies nearly a quar- 
ter of a mile from the river, in a hollow among 
hills. It contains a few hundred inhabitants, who 
subsist principally by labouring in the fields and 
vineyards. Its race of merchants and mariners are 
extinct. There are no vessels belonging to the 
place, nor any show of traffic, excepting at the 



342 APPENDIX. [1828. 

season of fruit and wine, when a few mysticks and 
other light barks anchor in the river to collect the 
produce of the neighbourhood. The people are 
totally ignorant, and it is probable that the greater 
part of them scarce know even the name of 
America. Such is the place from whence sallied 
forth the enterprise for the discovery of the wes- 
tern world ! 

We were now summoned to breakfast in a little 
saloon of the hacienda. The table was covered 
with natural luxuries produced upon the spot — 
fine purple and muscatel grapes from the adjacent 
vineyard, delicious melons from the garden, and 
generous wines made on the estate. The repast 
was heightened by the genial manners of my hos- 
pitable host, who appeared to possess the most en- 
viable cheerfulness of spirit and simplicity of heart. 

After breakfast we set off in the calesa to visit 
the Convent of La Rabida, which is about half a 
league distant. The road, for a part of the way, 
lay through the vineyards, and was deep and sandy. 
Thecalasero had been at his wit's end to conceive 
what motive a stranger like myself, apparently 
travelling for mere amusement, could have in 
coming so far to see so miserable a place as Palos, 
which he set down as one of the very poorest 
places in the whole world ; but this additional toil 
and struggle through deep sand to visit the old 
Convent of La Rabida, completed his confusion ; 
« Hombre !» exclaimad he, « es una ruina ! no hay 
masque clos frailes !» — u Zounds! why it's a ruin! 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS 

there are only two friars there!)) Don Juan 
laughed, and told him that I had come all the way 
from Seville precisely to see that old ruin and 
those two friars. The calaseromade the Spaniard's 
last reply when he is perplexed — he shrugged his 
shoulders and crossed himself. 

After ascending a hill and passing through the 
skirts of a straggling pine wood, we arrived in 
front of the convent. It stands in a bleak and 
solitary situation, on the brow of a rocky height 
or promontory, overlooking to the west a wide 
range of sea and land, bounded by the frontier 
mountainsof Portugal, about eight leaguesdistant. 
The convent is shut out from a view of the vine- 
yard of Pal os by the gloomy forest of pines which 
I have mentioned, which cover the promontory to 
the east, and darken the whole landscape in that 
direction. 

There is nothing remarkable in the architecture 
of the convent ; part of it is Gothic, but the edi- 
fice, having been frequently repaired, and being 
whitewashed, according to a universal custom in 
Andalusia, inherited from the Moors, it has not 
that venerable aspect which might be expected 
from its antiquity. 

We alighted at the gate where Columbus, when 
a poor pedestrian, a stranger in the land, asked 
bread and water for his child ! As long as the 
convent stands, this must be a spot calculated to 
awaken the most thrilling interest. The gate re- 
mains apparently in nearly the same state as at 



344 APPENDIX. [1828. 

die time of his visit, but there is no longer a porter 
at hand to administer to the wants of the wayfarer. 
The door stood wide open, and admitted us into a 
small court-yard. From thence we passed througli 
a Gothic portal into the chapel, without seeing a 
human being. We then traversed two interior 
cloisters, equally vacant and silent, and bearing a 
look of neglect and dilapidation. From an open 
window we had a peep at what had once been 
a garden, but that had also gone to ruin; the 
walls were broken and thrown down; a few 
shrubs, and a scattered fig-tree or two were all 
the traces of cultivation that remained. We passed 
through the long dormitories, but the cells were 
shut up and abandoned; we saw no living thing 
except a solitary cat stealing across a distant cor 
ridor, which fled in a panic at the unusual sight of 
strangers. At length, after patrolling nearly the 
Avhole of the empty building to the echo of our 
own footsteps, we came to where the door of a 
cell, being partly open, gave us the sight of a 
monk within, seated at a table writing. He rose, 
and received us with much civility, and conducted 
us to the superior, Avho was reading in an adjacent 
cell. They were both rather young men, and, to- 
gether with a noviciate and a lay-brother, who 
officiated as cook, formed the whole community of 
the convent. 

Don Juan Fernandez communicated to them 
the object of my visit, and my desire also to in- 
spect the archives of the convent, to find if there 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 345 

was any record of the sojourn of Columbus. They 
informed us that the archives had been entirely 
destroyed by the French. The younger monk, 
however, who had perused them, had a vague re- 
collection of various particulars concerning the 
transactions of Columbus at Palos, his visit to the 
convent, and the sailing of his expedition. From 
all that he cited, however, it appeared to me that 
all the information on the subject contained in the 
archives, had been extracted from Ilerrera and 
other well known authors. The monk was talk- 
ative and eloquent, and soon diverged from the 
subject of Columbus, to one which he considered 
of infinitely greater importance — the miraculous 
image of the Virgin possessed by their convent, 
and known by the name of « Our Lady of La Ra- 
bida.» He gave us a history of the wonderful 
way in which the image had been found buried in 
the earth, where it had lain hidden for ages, since 
the time of the conquest of Spain by the Moors; 
the disputes between the convent and different 
places in the neighbourhood for the possession of 
it ; the marvellous protection it extended to the 
adjacent country,especiallyin preventing all mad- 
ness, either in man or dog, for this malady was 
anciently so prevalent in this place as to "gain it 
the appellation of La Rabia, by which it was origi- 
nally called ; a name which, thanks to the benefi- 
cent influence of the Virgin, it no longer merited 
or retained. Such are the legends and reliques 
with which every convent in Spain is enriched, 



346 . APPENDIX. [1828. 

which are zealously cried up by the monks, and 
devoutly credited by the populace. 

Twice a year on the festival of our Lady of La 
Rabida, and on that of the patron saint of the 
order, the solitude and silence of the convent are 
interrupted by the intrusion of a swarming mul- 
titude, composed of the inhabitants of Moguer, of 
Huelva, and the neighbouring plains and moun- 
tains. The open esplanade in front of the edifice 
resembles a fair, the adjacent forest teems with the 
motley throng, and the image of our Lady of La 
Rabida is borne forth in triumphant procession. 

While the friar wasthus dilating upon the merits 
and renown of the image, I amused myself with 
those clay dreams, or coniurings of the imagination, 
to which I am a little given. As the internal ar- 
rangements of convents a re apt to be thesamefrom 
age to age, I pictured to myself this chamber as 
the same inhabited by the guardian, Juan Perez 
de Marchena, at the time of the visit of Columbus. 
Why might not the old and ponderous table before 
me be the very one on which he displayed his 
conjectural maps, and expounded his theory of a 
western route to India? It required but another 
stretch of the imagination to assemble the little 
conclave around the table; Juan Perez the friar, 
Garci Fernandez the Physician, and Martin Alonzo 
Pinzon the bold navigator, all listening with rapt 
attention to Columbus, or to the tale of some old 
seaman of Palos, about islands seen in the western 
parts of the ocean. 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 3^ 

The friars, as far as their poor means and scanty 
knowledge extended, were disposed to do every 
ihinp, to promote the ohject of my visit. They 
showed ns all parts of theeonvent, which, however, 
has little to hoast of, excepting the historical asso- 
ciations connected with it. The library was re- 
duced to a few volumes, chiefly on ecclesiastical 
subjects, piled promiscuously in the corner of a 
vaulted chamber, and covered with dust. The 
chamber itself was curious, being the most ancient 
part of the edifice, and supposed to have formed 
part of a temple in the time of the Romans. 

We ascended to the roof of the convent to enjoy 
the extensive prospect it commands. Immediately 
below the promontory on which it is situated, 
runs a narrow but tolerably deep river, called the 
Domingo Rubio, which empties itself into the 
Tinto. It is the opinion of Don Luis Fernandez 
Pinzon, that the ships of Columbus were careened 
and fitted out in this river, as it affords better shel- 
ter than the Tinto, and its shores are not so shallow. 
A lonely bark of a fisherman was lying in this 
stream, and not far off, on a sandy point, were the 
ruins of an ancient watch-tower. From the roof 
of the convent, all the windings of the Odiel and 
the Tinto were to be seen, and their junction into 
the main stream, by which Columbus sallied forth 
to sea. In fact the convent serves as a landmark, 
being, from its lofty and solitary situation, visible 
for a considerable distance to vessels coming on the 
coast. On the opposite side I looked down upon 



348 APPENDIX. [1828. 

the lonely road, through the wood of pine-trees, by 
which the zealous guardian of the convent, Fray 
Juan Perez, departed at midnight on his mule, 
when he sought the camp of Ferdinand and Isa- 
bella in the Vega of Granada, to plead the project 
of Columbus before the queen. 

Having finished our inspection of the convent, 
we prepared to depart, and were accompanied to 
the outward portal by the two friars. Our cale- 
sero brought his rattling and ricketty vehicle for 
us to mount; at sight of which one of the monks 
exclaimed, with a smile, « Santa Maria! only to 
think ! A calesa before the gate of the convent of 
La Rabida !» And, indeed, so solitary and remote 
is this ancient edifice, and so simple is the mode 
of living of the people in this bye-corner of Spain, 
that the appearance of even a sorry calesa might 
well cause astonishment. It is only singular that 
in such a bye-corner the scheme of Columbus 
should have found intelligent listeners and coad- 
jutors, after it had been discarded, almost with 
scoffing and contempt, from learned universities 
and splendid courts. 

On our way back to the hacienda, we met Don 
Rafael, a younger son of Don Juan Fernandez, a 
line young man, about twenty-one years of age, 
and who, his father informed me, Avas at present 
studying French and mathematics. He was well 
mounted on a spirited grey horse, and dressed in 
the Andalusian style, with the little round hat and 
jacket. He sat his horse gracefully, and managed 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 349 

him well. I was pleased with the frank and easy 
terms on which Don Juan appeared to live with 
his children. This I was inclined to think his fa- 
vourite son, as I understood lie was the only one 
that partook of the old gentleman's fondness for 
the chase, and that accompanied him in his hunt- 
ing excursions. 

A dinner had been prepared for us at the ha- 
cienda, by the wife of the capitaz, or overseer, 
who, with her husband, seemed to be well pleased 
with this visit from Don Juan, and to be confident 
of receiving a pleasant answ r er from the good-hu- 
moured old gentleman whenever they addressed 
him. The dinner was served up about two o'clock, 
and was a most agreeable meal. The fruits and 
wines were from the estate, and were excellent ; 
the rest of the provisions were from Moguer, 
for the adjacent village of Palos is too poor to fur- 
nish any thing. A gentle breeze from the sea play- 
ed through the hall, and tempered the summer 
heat. Indeed I do not know when I have seen a more 
enviable spot than this country retreat of the Pin- 
zons. Its situation on a breezy hill, at no great 
distance from the sea, and in a southern climate, 
produces a happy temperature, neither hot in sum- 
mer nor cold in winter. It commands a beautiful 
prospect, and is surrounded by natural luxuries. 
The country abounds with game, the adjacent river 
affords abundant sport in fishing, both by day and 
night, and delightful excursions for those fond of 
sailing. During the busy seasons of rural life, 
and especially at the joyous period of vintage, the 



35o APPENDIX. [1828. 

family pass some time here, accompanied by nu- 
merous guests, at which times, Don Juan assured 
me, there was no lack of amusements, both by 
land and water. 

When Ave had dined, and taken the siesta, or 
afternoon nap, according to the Spanish custom in 
summer time, we set out on our return to Moguer, 
visiting the village of Palos in the way. Don 
Gabriel had been sent in advance to procure the 
keys of the village church, and to apprise the cu- 
rate of our wish to inspect the archives. The vil- 
lage consists principally of two streets of low 
whitewashed bouses. Many of the inhabitants 
have very dark complexions, betraying a mixture 
of African blood. 

On entering the village, we repaired to the lowly 
mansion of the curate. I had hoped to find him some 
such personage as the curate in Don Quixote, pos- 
sessed of shrewdness and information in hislimited 
sphere, and that I might gain some anecdotes from 
him concerning his parish, its worthies, its anti- 
quities, and its historical events. Perhaps I might 
have done so at any other time, but, unfortunately, 
the curate was something of a sportsman, and had 
heard of somegame among the neighbouring hills. 
We met him just sallying forth from his house, 
and, I must confess, .his appearance was pictu- 
resque. He was a short, broad, sturdy, little man, 
and had doffed his cassock and broad clerical 
beaver, for a short jacket and a little round Anda- 
lusian hat ; he had his gun in hand, and was on 
the point of mounting a donkey which had been 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 35 i 

led forth by an ancient withered handmaid 
Fearful of being detained from his foray, he ac- 
costed my companion the moment he came in 
sight. 11 God preserve you, Senor Don Juan! I 
have received your message, and have but one 
answer to make. The archives have all been de- 
stroyed. We have no trace of any thing you seek 
for — nothing — nothing. Don Rafael has the keys 
of the church. You can examine it at your leisure 
— Adios, caballero!<> With these words the gal- 
liard little curate mounted his donkey, thumped his 
ribs with the butt-end of his gun, and trotted off 
to the hills. 

In our way to the church we passed by the ruins 
of what had once been a fair and spaciousdwelling, 
greatly superior to the other houses of the village. 
This, Don Juan informed me, was an old family 
possession, but since they had removed from 
Palos it had fallen to decay for want of a tenant. 
It was probably the family residence of Martin 
Alonzo or Vicente Yaiiez Pinzon, in the time of 
Columbus. 

We now arrived at the Church of St George, in 
the porch of which Columbus first proclaimed to 
the inhabitants of Palos the order of the sovereigns, 
that they should furnish him with ships for his 
great voyage of discovery. This edifice has lately 
been thoroughly repaired, end, being of solid ma- 
son-work, promises to stand for ages, a monument 
of the discoverers. It stands outside of the village, 
on the brow of a hill, looking along a little valley 
toward the river. The remains of a Moorish arch 



352 APPENDIX. [1828. 

prove it to have been a mosque in former times; 
just above it, on the crest of the hill, is the ruin of 
a Moorish castle. 

I paused in the porch, and endeavoured to recall 
the interesting scene that had taken place there, 
when Columbus, accompanied by the zealous Mar 
Juan Perez, caused the public notary to read the 
royal order in presence of the astonished alcaldes, 
regidors, and alguazils; but it is difficult to con- 
ceive the consternation that must have been struck 
into so remote a little community, by this sudden 
apparition of an entire stranger among them, 
bearing a command that they should put their 
persons and ships at his disposal, and sail with 
him away into the unknown wilderness of the 
ocean. 

The interior of the church has nothing remark- 
able, excepting a wooden image of St George 
vanquishing the Dragon, which is erected over the 
high altar, and is the admiration of the good 
people of Palos, who bear it about the streets in 
grand procession on the anniversary of the saint. 
This group existed in the time of Columbus, and 
now flourishes in renovated youth and splendour, 
having been newly painted and gilded, and the 
countenance of the saint rendered peculiarly 
blooming and lustrous. 

Having finished the examination of the church, 
we resumed our seats in the calesa and returned 
to Moguer. One thing only remained to fulfil the 
object of my pilgrimage. This was to visit the 



i8a8.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 353 

chapel of the Convent of Santa Clara. When 
Columbus was in danger of being lost in a tempest 
on his way home from his great voyage of disco- 
very, he made a vow, that, should he be spared, 
he would watch and pray one whole night in this 
chapel; a vow which he doubtless fulfilled imme- 
diately after his arrival. 

My kind and attentive friend, Don Juan, con- 
ducted me to the convent. It is the wealthiest in 
Moguer, and belongs to a sisterhood of Franciscan 
nuns. The chapel is large, and ornamented with 
somedegreeof richness,particularlythepartabout 
the high altar, which is embellished by magnificent 
monuments of the brave family of the Prerto 
Carreros, the ancient lords of Moguer, and re- 
nowned in Moorish warfare. The alabaster effigies 
of distinguished warriors of that house, and of their 
wives and sisters, lie side by side, with folded 
hands, on tombs immediately before the altar, while 
others recline in deep niches on either side. The 
night had closed in by the time I entered the 
church, which made the scene more impressive. 
A few votive lamps shed a dim light about the in- 
terior; their beams Avere feebly reflected by the 
gilded work of the high altar, and the frames of 
the surrounding paintings, and rested upon the 
marble figures of the warriors and dames lying in 
the monumental repose of ages. The solemn pile 
must have presented much the same appearance 
when tbe pious discoverer performed his vigil, 
kneeling before this very altar, and praying and 



354 APPENDIX. [1828. 

watching throughout the night, and pouring forth 
heartfelt praises for having been spared to accom- 
plish his sublime discovery. 

I had now completed the main purpose of my 
journey, having visited the various places connect- 
ed with the story of Columbus. It was highly 
gratifying to find some of them so little changed, 
though so great a space of time had intervened ; 
but in this quiet nook of Spain, so far removed 
from the main thoroughfares, the lapse of time 
produces but few violent revolutions. Nothing, 
however, had surprised and gratified me more than 
thecontinued stability of the Pinzon family. On the 
morning after my excursion to Palos, chance gave 
me an opportunity of seeing something of the in- 
terior of most of their households. Having a curio- 
sity to visit the remains of a Moorish castle, once 
the citadel of Moguer, Don Fernandez undertook 
to show me a tower Avhich served as a magazine of 
wine to one of the Pinzon family. In seeking for 
the key we were sent from house to house of nearly 
the whole connexion. All appeared to be living in 
that golden mean equally removed from the wants 
and superfluities of life, and all to be happily inter- 
woven by kind and cordial habits of intimacy. We 
found the females of the family generally seated in 
the patios, or central courts of their dwellings, be- 
neath the shade of awnings and among shrubs and 
[lowers. Here the Andalusian ladies are accus- 
tomed to pass their mornings at work, surrounded 
by their handmaids, in the primitive, or rather,ori- 



1828.] A VISIT TO PALOS. 355 

ental style. In the porches of some of the houses 
I observed the coat of arms granted to the family 
by Charles V, hung- up like a picture in a frame. 
Over the door of Don Luis, the naval officer, it was 
carved on an escutcheon of stone, and coloured. 
I had gathered many particulars of the family also 
from conversation with Don Juan, and from the 
family legend lent me by Don Luis. From all that 
I could learn, it Avould appear that the lapse of 
nearly three centuries and a half has made but lit- 
tle change in the condition of the Pinzons. From 
generation to generation they have retained the 
same fair standing and reputable name through- 
out the neighbourhood, filling offices of public 
trust and dignity, and possessing great influence 
over their fellow-citizens by their good sense and 
good conduct. How rare is it to see such an instance 
of stability of fortune in this fluctuating world, and 
howtrulyhonourableis this hereditary respectabi- 
lity, which has been secured by no titles or entails, 
but perpetuated merely by the innate worth of the 
race! I declare to you that the most illustrious 
descents of mere titled rank could never com- 
mand the sincere respect and cordial regard with 
which I contemplated this staunch and enduring 
family, which for three centuries and a half has 
stood merely upon its virtues. 

As I was to set off on my return to Seville before 
two o'clock, I partook of a farewell repast at the 
house of Don Juan, between twelve and one, and 
then took leave of his household with sincere re- 



356 APPENDIX. [1828. 

gret. The good old gentleman, with the courtesy, 
or rather the cordiality of a true Spaniard, accom- 
panied me to the posada, to see me off. I had dis- 
pensed but little money in the posada — thanks to 
the hospitality of the Pinzons — yet the Spanish 
pride of my host and hostess seemed pleased that 
I had preferred their humble chamber, and the 
scanty bed they had provided me, to the spacious 
mansion of Don Juan; and when I expressed my 
thanks for their kindness and attention, and regaled 
mine host with a few choice cigars, the heart of the 
poor man was overcome. He seized me by both 
hands and gave me a parting benediction, and then 
ran after the calasero,to enjoin him to take parti- 
cular care of me during my journey. 

Taking a hearty leave of my excellent friend 
Don Juan, who had been unremitting in his 
attentions to me to the last moment, I now set off 
on my wayfaring, gratified to the utmost with my 
visit, and full of kind and grateful feelings towards 
Moguer and its hospitable inhabitants. 



MANIFESTO 



ALONZO DE OJEDA. 



The following curious formula, composed by 
learned divines in Spain, was first read aloud by 
the friars in the train of Alonzo de Ojeda, as a 
prelude to his attack on the savages of Carthagena, 
and was subsccpiently adopted by the Spanish dis- 
coverers in general, in their invasions of Indian 
countries. 

« I, Alonzo de Ojeda, servant of the high and 
mighty kings of Castile and Leon, civilizers of 
barbarous nations, their messenger and captain, 
notify and make known to you, in the best way I 
can, that God our Lord, one and eternal, created 
the heavens and earth, and one man and one wo- 
man, from whom you, and we, and all the people 
of the earth, were and are descendants, procreated, 
and all those who shall come after us ; but the vast 
number of generations which have proceeded from 
them in the course of more than five thousand 
years that have elapsed since the creation of the 
world, made it necessary that some of the human 
race should disperse in one direction, and some in 



358 APPENDIX, 

another, and that they should divide themselves 
into many kingdoms and provinces, as they could 
not sustain and preserve themselves in one alone. 
All these people were given in charge, by God 
our Lord, to one person, named Saint Peter, who 
was thus made lord and superior of all the people 
of the earth, and head of the whole human lineage; 
whom all should obey, wherever they might live, 
and whatever might be their law, sect, or belief: 
he gave him also the whole world for his service 
and jurisdiction; and though he desired that he 
should establish his chair in Rome, as a place most 
convenient for governing the world, yet he per- 
mitted that he might establish his chair in any other 
part of the world, and judge and govern all the 
nations, Christians, Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and 
whatever other sect or belief might be. This per- 
son was denominated Pope, that is to say, Admi- 
rable, Supreme, Father and Guardian, because he 
is father and governor of all mankind. This holy 
father was obeyed and honoured as lord, king,and 
superior of the universe, by those who lived in his 
time, and, in like manner, have been obeyed and 
honoured all those who have been elected to the 
pontificate ; and thus it has continued unto the 
present clay, and will continue until the end of 
the world. 

(i One of these pontiffs, of whom I have spoken, 
as lord of the world, made a donation of these 
islands and continents of the ocean sea, and all 
that they contain, to the Catholic kings of Castile, 



MANIFESTO OF ALONZO DE OJEDA. 35o, 

who, at that time, were Ferdinand and Isabella, of 
glorious memory, and to their successors, our 
sovereigns, accord ing to the tenor of certain papers, 
drawn up forthe purpose (which you may see, if you 
desire). Thus His Majesty is king and sovereign 
of these islands and continents by virtue of the said 
donation, and as king and sovereign, certain islands, 
and almost all, to whom this has been notified, have 
received His Majesty, and have obeyed and served, 
and do actually serve him. And, moreover, like 
good subjects, and with good will, and without any 
resistance or delay, the moment they were informed 
of the foregoing, they obeyed all the religious men 
sent among them to preach and teach our holy 
faith ; and these of their free and cheerful will, 
without any condition or reward, became Chris- 
tians, and continue so to be. And His Majesty re- 
ceived them kindly and benignantly, and ordered 
that they should be treated like his other subjects 
and vassals. You also are required and obliged 
to do the same. Therefore, in the best manner I 
can, I pray and entreat you, that you consider w r ell 
what 1 have said, and that you take whatever time 
is reasonable to understand and deliberate upon it, 
and that you recognise the Church for sovereign 
and superior of the universal Avorld, and the su- 
preme pontiff, called Pope, in her name, and His 
Majesty, in his place, as superior and sovereign 
king of the islands and terra firma by virtue of 
the said donation ; and that you consent that these 
religious fathers declare and preach to you the 



36o APPENDIX. 

foregoing: and if you shall so clo, you will do well, 
and will do that to which you are bounden and 
obliged ; and His Majesty, and I, in his name, will 
receive you with all due love and charity, and will 
leave you your wives and children free from servi- 
tude, that you may freely do with them and with 
yourselves whatever you please and think proper, 
as have done tbe inhabitants of the other islands. 
And, beside this, His Majesty will give you many 
privileges and exemptions, and grant you many 
favours. If you do not do this, or wickedly and 
intentionally delay to do so, I certify to you that, 
by the aid of God, I will forcibly invade and 
make war upon you in all parts and modes that I 
can, and will subdue you to the yoke and obedience 
of the Church and of His Majesty ; and I will take 
your wives and children, and makeslaves of them, 
and sell them as such, and dispose of them as His 
Majesty may command : and I will take your effects, 
and will do you all the harm and injury in my 
power, as vassals who will not obey or receive 
their sovereign, and who resist and oppose him. 
And I protest that the deaths and disasters, which 
may in this manner be occasioned, will be the fault 
of yourselves, and not of His Majesty, nor of me, 
nor of these cavaliers who accompany me. And 
of what I here tell you, and require of you, I call 
upon the notary here present to give me his 
signed testimonial.'- 



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